LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, \ 




Wt", 



LEGENDS 

OF THE 

PATRIARCHS AND PROPHETS. 



X 
^ 



V J 



LEGENDS 



OF THE 



Patriarchs and Prophets 



AND OTHER 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS 



FROM VARIOUS SOURCES 



y BY THE 

REV. Si BARING-£OULD, M.A. 



Author of " Curious Myths of the Middle Ages,"'' " The Origin and Development 
of Religious Beliefs "In Exitu Israel," etc. 




NEW YORK : 

AMERICAN BOOK EXCHANGE, 

764 Broadway. 

1881. 



PREFACE. 

An incredible number of legends exists connected 
with the personages whose history is given in the Old 
Testament. The collection now presented to the pub- 
lic must by no means be considered as exhaustive. 
The compiler has been obliged to limit himself as to the 
number, it being quite impossible to insert all. He 
trusts that few of peculiar interest have been omitted. 

The Mussulman traditions are nearly all derived from 
the Talmudic writers, just as the history of Christ in the 
Koran is taken from the Apocryphal Gospels. The 
Koran follows the " Sepher Hajaschar " (Book of the 
Just) far more closely than the canonical Scriptures ; 
and the "Sepher Hajaschar" is a storehouse of the 
Rabbinic tradition on the subject of the Patriarchs from 
Adam to Joshua. 

The Jewish traditions are of various value. Some 
can be traced to their origin without fail. One class is 
derived from Persia, as, for instance, those of Asmodeus, 
the name of the demon being taken, along with his 
story, from Iranian sources. Another class springs from 
the Cabbalists, who, by permutation of the letters of a 



VI 



PREFACE. 



name, formed the nuclei, so to speak, from which le~ 
gends spread. 

Another class, again, is due to the Rabbinic com- 
mentators, who, unable to allow for poetical periphrasis, 
insisted on literal interpretations, and then coined fa- 
bles to explain them. Thus the saying of David, 
" Thou hast heard me from among the horns of the uni- 
corns" which signified that David was assisted by God 
in trouble, was taken quite literally by the Rabbis, and 
a story was invented to explain it. 

Another class, again, is no doubt due to the exag- 
geration of Oriental imagery, just as that previously 
mentioned is due to the deficiency of the poetic fancy 
in certain Rabbis. Thus, imagination and defect of 
imagination; each contributed to add to the store. 

But when we have swept all these classes aside, there 
remains a residuum, small, no doubt, of genuine tradi- 
tion. To this class, if I am not mistaken, belong the 
account of Lamech and his wives, and the story of the 
sacrifice of Isaac. In the latter instance, the type 
comes out far clearer in the Talmudic tradition that in 
the canonical Scriptures ; and this can hardly have been 
the result of Jewish interpolation, knowing, as they did, 
that Christians pointed triumphantly to this type. 

With regard to Jewish traditions, it is unfortunate 
that both Eisenmenger and Bartolocci, who collected 
many of them, were so prejudiced, so moved with vio- 
lent animosity against the Rabbinic writers, that they 



PREFACE. vii 

preserved only the grotesque, absurd, and indecent le- 
gends, and wholly passed over those — and there are 
many of them — which are redolent of poetry, and which 
contain an element of truth. 

A certain curious interest attaches to these legends 
— at least, I think so ; and, should they find favor with 
the public, this volume will be followed by another se- 
ries on the legends connected with the New Testament 
characters. 

The author is not aware of any existing collection 
of these legends, except that of M. Colin de Plancy, 
" Legendes de l'Ancien Testament, " Paris, 1861 ; but 
he has found this work of little or no use to him in com- 
posing his volume, as M. de Plancy gives no reference 
to authorities ; and also, because nearly the whole of 
the contents are taken from D'Herbelot's " Bibliotheque 
Orientate " and Migne's " Dictionnaire des Apocryphes/ 

It will be necessary to add a few words on certain 
works largely quoted in the following pages. 

1. Dr. G. Weil's " Biblische Legende der Musel- 
manner," Frankfurt a. M., 1845, * s derived from three 
Arabic MS. works — " Chamis" by Husein Ibn Moham- 
med Ibn Alhasan Addiarbekri ; " Dsachirat Alulun wan- 
atidjat Alfuhum" by Ahmed Ibn zein Alabidin Albekri ; 
and " Kissat Alanbija" by Mohammed Ibn Ahmed 
Alkissai. 

2. The Chronicle of Abou-djafar Mohammed Taba- 
ri was translated into Persian by Abou Ali Mohammed 



viii PREFACE. 

Belami, who added sundry traditions circulating in Per- 
sia ; and has been rendered into French, in part, by M. 
Hermann Zolenberg, for the Oriental Translation Fund, 
Paris, 1867. 

3. The "Sepher Hajaschar," or Book of Jasher 
(Yaschar), is quoted from the translation by Le Cheva- 
lier P. L. B. Drach, inserted in Migne's " Dictionnaire 
des Apocryphes." 

4. Eisenmenger, " Neuentdektes Judenthum," 2 
vols. 8vo, Konigsburg, 171 1, contains a great many Rab- 
binic traditions collected from sources inaccessible to 
most persons. 

5. Bartolocci, "Bibliotheca Magna Rabbinica," 4 
vols, fol., Rome, 1675-93, is a very valuable storehouse 
of information, but sadly disfigured by prejudice. 



CONTENTS. 

PAUL 

Preface. •••••• ••••••• v 

L 
The Fall of the Angels • ••»•••••••••• 15 

IL 

Adam ••••••••••••••• 21 

1. The Creation of Man. . • •••••••••••• 21 

2. The Pre-Adamites . . . . . ......... 27 

m. 

Eve •••••••••••••••••••••.. 29 

IV. 
The Fall or Man • •••••••.•••.••• 36 

V, 
Adam and Eve after the Fall ••••••••••• 48 

VL 
Cain and Abel • • • • • • •••••• 69 

VH 
The Death of Adam .......... 77 

vm. 

SETH •••••••••••••r*. 8l 



I 



* 



x CONTENTS. 

IX. 

PACtK, 

Cainan son of Enos • • • . . 84 

X. 

Enoch • ••••• • • 85 

1. The Translation of Enoch . . • 85 

2. The Book of Enoch 87 

XL 
The Giants ••••••• . 91 

xn. 

Lamech . . • . • ••••••• 96 

XIII. 
Methuselah • •••••••••••• 98 

XIV, 
Noah . . • . • ••••••••••• 99 

XV. 

Heathen Legends of the Deluge ........ . iofr 

XVI. 
The Planting of the Vine ••••••• 121 

XVII. 
The Sons of Noah 124 

XVIII. 

Relics of the Ark • • . . . 126 

XIX* 
Certain Descendants of Ham ••••.. 127 

XX. 

Serug 13a 



CONTENTS. » 
XXI. 

PACKS. 

The Prophet Eber 131 

XXII. 

The Prophet Saleh * .... 136 

XXIII. 

The Tower of Babel 144 

Abraham 149 

1. His Youth and early Straggles 149 

2. The Call of Abraham, and the Visit to Egypt 162 

3. The War with the Kings 166 

4. The Birth of Ishmael 171 

5. The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah \ •••••• 172 

6. The Birth of Isaac 177 

7. The Expulsion of Hagar and Ishmael • • 18 1 

8. The Strife between the Shepherds ......... 185 

9. The Grove in Beer-sheba ..•••••••••• 186 

70. The Offering of Isaac ••••• 187 

11. The Death of Sarah • • • 197 

12. The Marriage of Isaac ••••••••••••• 201 

13. The Death of Abraham ••••••••••••• 203 

XXV. 

Melchizedek ...••••••••••• 205 

XXVI. 

Of Ishmael and the Well Zemzem • •••*••»•• ai ° 

xxvn. 

Esau and Jacob • ••••••• 215 

xxxm. 

Joseph • .•••••••••• 227 

XXIX. 
The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs • . . . .243 



xii CONTENTS. 

XXX. 

Job • . . • • • . 245 

XXXL 

JETHRO • ••••••• ••••••••251 

XXXII. 

Moses •••••••••• 252 

1. Israel in Egypt • ••••••••• 252 

2. The Birth and Childhood of Moses • •••••••• 259 

3. The Youth and Marriage of Moses ••••••*•• 266 

4. Moses before Pharaoh ....••••••>•• 275 

5. The Passage of the Red Sea •••••••• • • 283 

6. The giving of the Law • ••••••••• . . 288 

7. The Manna ....«••••••••• • • 392 

8. The smitten Rock ...•••••••••••• 294 

9. Moses visits £1 Khoudr • •••••••••••-. 295 

10. The Mission of the Spies • ••••••••••• 298 

11. Of Korah and his Company • •••••••••• 301 

12. The Wars of the Israelites •••••••••••• 304 

13. The Death of Aaron • ••••••••••••• 307 

14. The Death of Moses ••••••«••••••• 310 

xxxin. 

Joshua ••••<••• 3x5 

XXXIV. 

Tide Judges ••••• • • • 31^ 

XXXV. 

Samuel •••••••••.••••••••••• 319 

XXXVL 

Saul ••••••• 325 

I. War with the Philistines. — Goliath slain ••••••• 325 

2 Saul's Jealousy of David •••••• 329 

3. The Death of Saul 331 



CONTENTS. tox 
XXXVIL 

PAML 

David • ••»••••••• • •••••• 323 

XXXVIIL 

Solomon . • . • ••••"• 8:» • • • 347 

1. How Solomon obtained Power • •'•••••••• 347 

2. How Solomon feasted all Flesh .*•••••••• 349 

3. The Building of the Temple , • . » , t , t , , , 351 

4. The Travels of Solomon . >•••••••••« 353 

5. The History of the Queen of Sheba ,,,,,,,,, 358 

6. Solomon's Adventure with the Apes • ••••••■• 364 

7. Solomon marries the Daughter of Pharaoh ■■•••■ 365 

8. How Solomon lost and recovered his Ring , t t . # , 366 

9. The Death of Solomon ...... # j^ t . » . , . 369 

XXXIX. 

Elijah • •»?•; t •• 371 

XL. 

Isaiah . . . . . r »••••••••• 373 

XLL 

Jeremiah ............. fi , # # ., 376 

XLLL 

Ezekhl. • ••••.........,.,.. 377 

XLIIL 

Ezra 377 

xuv. 

ZlCHARIAH . 380 



LEGENDS OF THE 

PATRIARCHS AND PROPHETS. 



THE FALL OF THE ANGELS. 

In the beginning, before the creation of heaven and earth, 
God made the angels ; free intelligences and free wills ; out of 
His love He made them, that they might be eternally happy. 
And that their happiness might be complete, He gave them 
the perfection of a created nature ; that is, He gave them 
freedom. 

But happiness is only attained by the free will agreeing in 
its freedom to accord with the will of God. Some of the an- 
gels by an act of free will obeyed the will of God, and in such 
obedience found perfect happiness ; other angels by an act of 
free will rebelled against the will of God, and in such disobe- 
dience found misery. 

Such is the catholic theory of the fall of the angels. 

Historically, it is represented as a war in heaven. "And 
there was war in heaven : Michael and his angels fought against 
the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels ', and prevailed 
not ; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the 
great dragon was cast out, that old serpent ', called the Devil, and 
Satan, which deceiveth the whole world ; he was cast out into the 
earth, and his angels were cast out with him." 1 The reason of 
the revolt was that Satan desired to be as great as God. " Thou 
hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt 
my throne above the stars of God ; I will sit also upon the mount 
of the congregation in the sides of the north ; I will ascend above 
the heights of the clouds ; I will be like the Most High" 3 

1 Rev. xii. 7-9. 2 Isaiah xiv. 13, 14. 



j6 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [i. 

The war ended in the fall of Satan and those whom he had 
led into apostasy ; and to this fall are referred the words of 
Christ, " I saw Satan like light7iing fall from heaven" ! 

Fabricius, in his collections of the apocryphal writings of 
the Old Testament, has preserved the song of triumph which 
the Archangel Michael sang on obtaining the victory. This 
is a portion of it : — 

" Glory to our God ! Praise to His holy Name ! He is 
our God ; glory be to Him ! He is our Lord ! His be the 
triumph ! He has stretched forth His right hand ; He has 
manifested His power, He has cast down our adversaries. 
They are mad who resist Him ; they are accursed who depart 
from His commandments ! He knoweth all things, and can- 
not err. His will is sovereignly just, and all that He wills is 
good, all that He advises is holy. Supreme Intelligence can- 
not be deceived ; Perfect Being cannot will what is evil. Noth- 
ing is above that which is supreme, nothing is better than that 
winch is perfect. None is worthy beside Him but him whom 
He has made worthy. He must be loved above all things and 
adored as the eternal King. You have abandoned your God, 
you have revolted against Him, you have desired to be gods ; 
you have fallen from your high estates, you have gone down 
like a fallen stone. Acknowledge that God is great, that His 
works are perfect, and that His judgments are just. Glory 
be to God through ages of ages, praises of joy for all His 
works ! " This song of the Archangel is said to have been 
revealed to S. Amadeus. 2 

According to the Talmudists, Satan, whose proper name is 
Sammael, was one of the Seraphim, with six wings. 3 He was 
not driven out of heaven till after he had led Adam and Eve 
into sin ; then Sammael and his host were precipitated out of 
the place of bliss, with God's curse to weigh them down. In 
the struggle between Michael and Sammael, the falling Seraph 
caught the wings of Michael and tried to drag him down with 
him, but God saved him, whence Michael derives his name 
(the Rescued). This is what the Rabbi Bechai says in his 
commentary on the Five Books of Moses. 4 

1 Luke x. 1 8. 

2 Fabricius (J. A.), Codex Pseudepigraphus Vet. Test, Hamb., 1 722, 
p. 21. 

3 Jalkut Rubeni, 3, sub. tit. Sammael. 

4 Fol. 139, col. I : see Eisenmenger, i. p. 831. 



I.J THE FALL OF THE ANGELS. rj 

According to a Talmudic authority, the apostate angels 
having fallen in a heap, God laid his little finger on them 
and consumed them. 1 

Sammael was the regent of the planet Mars, and this he 
rules still j and therefore it is that those born under the influ- 
ence of that star are lovers of war and given to strife. 2 

He was chief among the angels of God, and now he is 
prince among devils. 3 His name is derived from Simme, 
which means to blind and deceive. He stands on the left side 
of men. He goes by various names ; such as the Old Serpent, 
the Unclean Spirit, Satan, Leviathan, and sometimes also 
Asael. In his fall he spat in his hatred against God, and his 
spittle stained the moon, and thus it is that the moon has on 
it spots. 

After his fall, Satan took to himself four wives, Lilith and 
Naama the daughter of Lamech and sister of Tubal-Cain, 
Igereth and Machalath. Each became the mother of a great 
host of devils, and each rules with her host over a season of 
the year ; and at the change of seasons there is a great gath 
ering of devils about their mothers. Lilith is followed by four 
hundred and seventy-eight legions of devils, for that number ic 
comprised in her name (rTV^-478). According to some, Lil- 
ith is identical with Eve. She rules over Damascus, Naama 
over Tyre, Igereth over Malta and Rhodes, and Machalath 
over Crete. 4 

Many traditions date the existence of angels and demons 
from a remote period before the creation of the world, but 
some connect the fall of Satan and his host with the creation 
of man. 

Abou-Djafar-Mohammed Tabari says that when God made 
Adam, He bade all the angels worship him as their king and 
superior, as says the Koran, " All the angels adored Adam " 
(xv. 30), but that Satan or Eblis answered God, " I will not 
adore Adam, for he is made of earth and I of fire, therefore I 
am better than he" (vii. n), and that God thereupon cursed 
Eblis and gave him the form of a devil, because of his pride, 
vain confidence, and disobedience. 5 

Abulfeda says, " After God had made man He thus ad- 
dressed the angels. ' When I have breathed a portion of my 

1 Jalkut Rubeni, in Eisenmenger, i. p. 307. 

* Eisenmenger, i. p. 104. 3 Ibid., i. p. 820. 4 Ibid., ii. 416,420, 421. 

* Chronique de Tabari. Paris, 1867, i. c. xxvii. 



^ old TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. \u 

spirit into him, bow before him and adore.' After He had in- 
spired Adam with His spirit, all the angels of every degree 
adored him, except Eblis ; he, through pride and envy, scorn- 
ed to do this, and disobeyed God. Then God cursed him, 
and he cut him off from all hope in divine mercy, and He 
called him Scheithanan redjiman (Satan devoted to misery), 
and He cast him out who had been before an angel of the 
earth, and keeper of terrestrial things, and a guardian of Par- 
adise." » 

But the general opinion seems to have been that the fall of 
the angels preceded the creation of man. Ibn-Ezra dates it on 
the second day of creation, others on the first day when God 
" divided the light fr 0771 the darkness" Manasseh Ben Israel says 
that God has placed the devils in the clouds, that they might 
torment the wicked with thunder and lightnings, and showers 
of hail and tempests of wind, and that this took place on the 
second day, when the firmaments were divided. 

As the fall of Satan took place through his aspiration to be 
God, so it is closely connected with the origin of idolatry and 
false worship ; for now that Satan is cast out of heaven, he 
still seeks to exalt himself into the place of God, and there- 
fore leads men from the worship of the true God into demon- 
olatry. Thus the gods of the heathens were regarded by the 
first Christians as devils aspiring to receive that worship from 
men on earth which they sought and failed to obtain in heaven. 
Thus St. Paul tells the Corinthians that " the Gentiles sacrifice 
to devils" 2 The temptation of Christ can only be fully under- 
stood when we bear in mind that pride and craving for wor- 
ship is the prime source of Satan's actions. "All these will I 
give thee" he said to Christ, "if Thou wilt fall down and wor- 
ship me" It was a second attempt of Satan to set himself 
above the Most High. 

Among the heathen, traditions of the Angelic apostasy and 
war have remained. 

The Indian story is as follows : — 

At the head of the apostate spirits is Mahisasura, or the 
great Asur ; he and those who followed him were once good, 
but before the creation of the world they refused obedience to 
Brahma, wherefore they were cast down by the assistance of 
Schiva into the abyss of Onderah. 3 Mahisasura is also repre- 

1 Abulfeda, Hist. Ante-Islamica. Lipsiae, 1831, p. 13. 

2 I Cor. x. 20. 3 Majer, Mythologische Lexicon, Th. i. p. 231. 



I.J THE FALL OF THE ANGELS. 19 

sented as the great serpent Vrita, against which Indra fought, 
and which after a desperate struggle he overcame. 

The Persian tradition is that Ahriman, the chief of the reb- 
els, is not by nature evil. He was not created evil by the 
Eternal One, but he became evil by revolting against his will ; 
and the ancient books of the Parsees assert that at the last 
day Ahriman will return to obedience, and having been puri- 
fied by fire, will regain the place among the heavenly beings 
which he lost. In this war the Izeds fought against the Divs, 
headed by Ahriman, and flung the conquered into Douzahk 
or hell. 

The Norse story is that Loki, the spirit of evil, is one of the 
gods, and sat with them at their table till he declared himself 
their enemy, when he with his vile progeny, the wolf and the 
serpent, were cast out. The wolf is bound, Thorr constrains the 
serpent, and Loki is chained under the mountains, and a ser- 
pent distils poison on his breast ; when he tosses in agony, the 
earth quakes. 

In Egypt, Typhon was brother of Osiris, but he revolted 
against him. 

Maximus of Tyre, and Apollonius of Rhodes, following 
Orpheus, speak of the war of the gods against the angels who 
rebelled under their chief Ophion, or the Serpent, and Phere- 
cydes, according to Origen, sang of this event as having taken 
place in pre-historic times ; so that the knowledge of it could 
only have reached man by revelation. He described the two 
armies face to face, — one commanded by Saturn, the supreme 
Creator ; the other by Ophioneus, the old Dragon, and the 
defeat of the latter and its expulsion from the realms of bliss to 
Ogenos, the regions of annihilation. 1 The story of the Titans 
is connected with this. They were the sons of* Uranus 
(heaven) and Ge (earth), and dwelt originally in heaven, 
whence they are called Uranidae. They were twelve in num- 
ber. Uranus threw out of heaven his other sons, the Heca- 
toncheires and the Cyclopes, and precipitated them into Tar- 
tarus. Whereupon Ge persuaded her sons, the Titans, to rise 
up against their father, and liberate their brethren. They 
did as their mother bade them, deposed Uranus, and placed on 
his throne their brother Cronus, who immediately re-imprison- 
ed the Cyclopes. But Zeus with his brothers fought against 
the reigning Titans, cast them out of heaven, and enthroned 
1 Orig. adv. Cels. vi. 42. 



2 o OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS, \y 

himself on the seat of Cronus ; and the Titans he enchained in 
the abyss under Tartarus. 

This is simply the same story told over twice, and formed 
into a dynasty. Chronos Titan is the same as the x\rabic 
Scheitan, the Erse Teitin, the Time-god, and the Biblical Sa- 
tan, or Lucifer, the Son of the Morning. 

Amongst the Battas of Sumatra exists a myth to this effect : 
Batara Guru, the supreme God, from whose daughter Putiarla 
Buran all mankind are descended, cast the mountain Bakka- 
ra out of heaven upon the head of the serpent, his foe, and 
made the home of his son Layanga-layaad-mandi on the top 
of this mountain. From this summit the son descended that 
he might bind the hands or feet of the serpent, as it shook its 
head and made the earth rock. 

Connected with the fall of Satan is his lameness. The dev- 
il is represented in art and in legion as limping on one foot ; 
this was occasioned by his having broken his leg in his fall. 

Hephaestus, who pursued Athene and attempted to outrage 
divine Wisdom, was precipitated from heaven into the fire-isl- 
and Lemnos, and was lamed thereby. Hermes cut the ham- 
string out of Typhon, therewith to string his lyre. The Norse 
god Loki lusted after Freya, and was lamed therefor. Wie- 
land the smith (Volundr), who ventured to do violence to Beo- 
dohild, was lamed, and was known thereby. Phaethon, daring 
to drive his father's chariot of the sun, was cast out and thrown 
to earth. 

The natives of the Caroline Islands relate that one of the 
inferior gods, named Merogrog, was driven by the other gods 
out of heaven, and he took with him a spark of fire which he 
gave to men. 1 This myth resembles that of Prometheus, "the 
contriver, full of gall and bitterness, who sinned against the 
gods by bestowing their honors on creatures of a day, the thief 
of fire," as Hermes calls him. He reappears as Tohil among 
the Quiches, the giver of fire, hated, yet adored. 

The Northern Californians say that the supreme God once 
created invisible spirits, of whom one portion revolted against 
him, headed by a spirit named War or Touparan, and that the 
Great Spirit having overcome him, drove him from the plains 
of heaven, and confined him along with his comrades in a cav 
em, where he is guarded by whales. 2 

1 Lettres Edifiantes, viii. p. 420. 

2 Bibliotheque Univ. de Geneve, 1827 ; D'Anselme, i. p, 228. 



n.] ADAM. 21 

The Egyptian Typhon, already alluded to, did not belong, 
to Egypt alone, but also to Phoenicia and Asia Minor, and 
thence the story passed into Greece, where it took root, and 
has been preserved to us as the attack of the hundred-headed 
dragon against the heaven-god Zeus. Typhon desired to obtain 
supremacy over gods and men, and, in order to win for him- 
self this sovereignty, he fought against the gods ; but he was 
defeated, bound, and precipitated into Tartarus, or, according 
to another version, was buried under the flaming mountains. 

According to a tradition of the Salivas, a people of New 
Granada, a serpent slew the nations, descended from God, who 
inhabited the region of the Orinoco, but a son of the God Puru 
fought him and overcame him, and bade him depart with his 
curse, and never to enter his house again, and, say these Sali- 
vas, from the flesh of the serpent sprang the Caribees, their 
great foes, as maggots from putrid meat. 1 

But these stories might be infinitely extended. How far 
they refer to a tradition common to the human race, and how 
far they relate to the strife between summer and winter, sun 
and storm-cloud, I do not pretend to decide. It is one of those 
vexed questions which it is impossible to determine. 



II. 
ADAM. 

I. THE CREATION OF MAN. 

Certain of the angels having fallen, God made men, that 
they might take their vacated places. 

According to the most authoritative Mussulman traditions^ 
Adam was created on Friday afternoon at the Assr-hour, or 
about three o'clock. The four archangels — Gabriel, Michael, 
Israfiel, and Asrael — were required to bring earth from the 
four quarters of the world, that therefrom God might fashion 
man. His head and breast were made of clay from Mecca 
and Medina, from the spot where later were the Holy Kaaba 
and the tomb of Mohammed. Although still lifeless, his 
beauty amazed the angels who had flocked to the gates of 

1 Hist. Naturelle de TOrinoque, par Tos. Gumilla. Avignon, 175 1, t 
i. p. 172. 



22 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS, [n. 

Paradise. But Eblis, envious of the beauty of Adam's as 
yet inanimate form, said to the angels : " How can you ad- 
mire a creature made of earth ? From such material noth- 
ing but fragility and feebleness can come." However, most 
of the angels praised God for what he had done. 

The body of Adam was so great, that if he stood up his 
head would reach into the seventh heaven. * But he was not 
as yet endowed with a living soul. The soul had been made 
a thousand years before, and had been steeped all that while 
in the sea of light which flowed from Allah. God now or- 
dered the soul to enter the body. It showed some indisposi- 
tion to obey ; thereupon God exclaimed : " Quicken Adam 
against your will, and, as a penalty for your disobedience, 
you shall leave the body sorely against your will." Then God 
blew the spirit against Adam with such force that it entered 
his nose, and ran up into his head, and as soon as it reached 
his eyes Adam opened them, and saw the throne of God with 
the inscription upon it : " There is no God but God, and Mo- 
hammed is His prophet." Then the soul ran into his ears, 
and Adam heard the song of the angels ; thereupon his 
tongue was unloosed, for by this time the soul had reached it, 
and he said, " Praise be to Thee, my Creator, one and only ! " 
And God answered him : " For this purpose are you made. 
You and your successors must pray to me, and you will find 
mercy and loving-kindness at my hands." Then the soul 
penetrated all the members, reaching last of all the feet of 
Adam, which receiving strength, he sprang up, and stood 
upon the earth. But when he stood upright he was obliged 
to close his eyes, for the light of God's throne shining di- 
rectly into them blinded them. " What light is this ? " he 
asked, as he covered his eyes with one hand, and indicated 
the throne with the other. " It is the light of a prophet," 
God answered, " who will spring from thee in later ages. By 
mine honor I swear, for him alone have I created the world 
In heaven he bears the name of the much lauded, and or 
earth he will be called Mohammed. Through him all men 
will be led out of error into the way of truth." 

God then called all created animals before Adam, and told 
him their names and their natures. Then He called up all the 
angels, and bade them bow before Adam, the man whom He 
had made. Israfiel obeyed first, and God gave to him in 
recompense the custody of the Book of Fate ; the other angels 



n.] ADAM. 2$. 

obeyed in order \ only Eblis refused, in the pride of his heart, 
saying, " Why shall I, who am made of fire, bend before him 
who is made of earth?" Therefore he was cast out of the an- 
gel choirs, and was forbidden admission through the gates of 
Paradise. Adam also was led out of Paradise, and he preach- 
ed to the angels, who stood before him in ten thousand ranks, 
a sermon on the power, majesty, and goodness of God, and he 
showed such learning and knowledge — for he could name each 
beast in seventy languages — that the angels were amazed at 
his knowledge, which excelled their own. As a reward for 
having preached this sermon, God sent Adam a bunch of 
grapes out of Paradise by the hands of Gabriel. 1 

In the Midrash, the Rabbinical story is as follows : " When 
God wished to make man, Pie consulted with the angels, and 
said to them, We will make a man in our image. Then they 
said, What is man, that you regard him, and what is his nature ? 
He answered, His knowledge excels yours. Then He placed 
all kinds of beasts before them, wild beasts and fowls of the 
air, and asked them their names, but they knew them not. 
And after Adam was made, He led them before him, and He 
asked Adam their names, and he replied at once, This is an 
ox, that is an ass, this is a horse, that is a camel, and so forth." 2 

The story told by Tabari is somewhat different. 

When God would make Adam, He ordered Gabriel to 
bring Him a handful of every sort of clay, black, white, red, 
yellow, blue, and every other kind. 3 Gabriel went to the mid- 
dle of the earth to the place where now is Kaaba. He wish- 
ed to stoop and take the clay, but the earth said to him, " O 
Gabriel, what doest thou ? " And Gabriel answered, " I am 
fetching a little clay, dust, and stone, that thereof God may 
make a Lord for thee." Then the earth swore by God, " Thou 
shalt take of me neither clay nor dust nor stone ; what if of 
the creatures made from me some should arise who would do 
evil upon the earth, and shed innocent blood ? " Gabriel with- 
drew, respecting the oath, and took no earth ; and he said to 
God, "Thou knowest what the earth said to me." 

1 Weil, Biblische Legenden der Muselmanner. Frankfort, 1845, pp. 
12-16. 

2 Geiger, Was hat Mohammed aus d. Judenthum aufgenommen? 
p. 99. 

3 So also Abulfeda, Hist. Ante-Islamica, ed. Fleischer. Lipsiae, 183 L 
P- 13. 



24 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [n. 

Then God sent Michael and bade him fetch a little mud. 
But when Michael arrived, the earth swore the same oath. 

And Michael respected the oath and withdrew. 

Then God sent Azrael, the angel of death. He came, and 
the earth swore the same oath ; but he did not retire, but an- 
swered and said, " I must obey the command of God in spite 
of thine oath." 

And the angel of death stooped, and took from forty ells 
below the earth clay of every sort, as we have said, and there- 
from God made Adam. 

No one in the world had seen a form like that of Adam. 
Hareth or Satan went to look at him. Adam had lain stretch- 
ed in the same place for the space of about forty years. No 
one thought of him or knew what sort of a thing he was. Ha- 
reth coming up to him, saw him stretched from east to west, 
of huge size and as dry as dry palm leaves. Then Hareth 
pushed Adam, and the dry earth rattled. Hareth was aston- 
ished. He examined the form more attentively, and he found 
that it was hollow. Then he went to the mouth and crept in 
at it, and crept out again and let the angels know the doubt 
that was in his breast, for he said, " This creature is nothing, 
its inside is empty, and a hollow thing can easily be broken. 
Now that God has made him, He has given him the empire 
of the world, but I will fight against him and drive him from 
the earth as I drove out the Jins. What is your advice ? " 

The angels answered, " O Hareth, if we overcame the Jins 
it was in obedience to God's command. Now that God has 
created this thing, if He orders us to submit to it, we must do 
so." Now when H&reth saw that the angels thought otherwise, 
he changed his discourse and said, "You speak the truth, I 
agree with you, but I wanted to prove you." 

When God gave the soul to Adam, it entered his throat 
and passed down into his bosom and belly, and wherever it 
passed, the earth, the clay, the dust, and the black mud be- 
came bones, nerves, veins, flesh, skin, and the like. And when 
his soul entered his head, Adam sneezed, and said, " Praise 
be to God." And when he turned his head, he saw Paradise 
and all its delights ; and when the soul entered his belly, he 
wanted to eat, so he tried to rise and get some food, but the 
soul had not yet reached his extremities, which were as yet 
mere clay, so Gabriel said : " O Adam, don't be in a hurry," l 
1 Tabari, i. c. xxvi. 



n.j ADAM, 25; 

Then follows the story of Eblis refusing to adore Adam. Ac- 
cording to another version of the Mussulman story, the soul 
showed such repugnance to enter the body, that the angel Ga- 
briel took a flageolet, and sitting down near the head of the 
inanimate Adam, played such exquisite melodies that the soul 
descended to listen, and in a moment of ecstasy entered the 
feet, which began immediately to move. Thereupon the soul 
was given command by Allah not to leave the body again till 
special permission was given it by the Most High. 1 

In the Talmud we are told that the Rabbi Meir says that 
the dust from which Adam was made was gathered from all 
parts of the earth : the Rabbi Hoshea says that the body of 
the first man was made of dust from Babel ; the head, of earth 
from the land of Israel, and the rest of his limbs from the soil 
of other countries : but the Rabbi Acha adds that his hinder 
quarters were fashioned out of clay from Acre. 2 When Adam 
was made, some of the dust remained over ; of that God made 
locusts. 3 

A Rabbinical tale is to this effect. God was interrupted by 
the Sabbath in the midst of creating fauns and satyrs, after 
He had made man, and was obliged to postpone their comple- 
tion till the Sunday, consequently these creatures are misshap- 
en. A Talmudic account of the way in which were spent the. 
hours of the day in which Adam was made, is sufficiently curi- 
ous. 

At the first hour, God gathered the dust of the earth ; in 
the second, He formed the embryo ; in the third, the limbs 
were extended ; in the fourth, the soul was given ; at the fifth 
hour Adam stood upright ; at the sixth, Adam named the ani- 
mals. Having done this, God asked him, " And I, what is my 
name ? " 

Adam replied — " Jehovah." 

At the seventh hour, Adam married Eve ; at the eighth, 
Cain and his sister were born ; at the ninth, they were forbid- 
den to eat of the tree ; at the tenth hour Adam fell ; at the 
eleventh he was banished from Eden ; and at the twelfth, he 
felt the sweat and pain of toil. 4 

1 Colin de Plancy, p. 55. 

2 Eisenmenger, Neuentdecktes Judenthum. Konigsberg, 171 1, i. pp. 

3 Bochart, Hierozoica, p. 2, 1. 8, fol. 486. 

4 Tract Sanhedrim, f. 38. 



:2 6 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [n 

In the Apocryphal Little Genesis, we are told that Adam 
did not disobey God till the expiration of the seventh year, 
and that he was not punished till forty-five days after. It adds, 
that before the Fall, Adam conversed familiarly with the ani- 
mals, but that by the Fall they lost the faculty of speech. 

God, say the Rabbis, made Adam so tall that his head 
touched the sky ; and the tree of life, planted in the midst of 
the garden of Eden, was so broad at the base that it would 
take a good walker five years to march round it, and Adam's 
proportions accorded with those of the tree. The angels mur- 
mured, and told God that there were two sovereigns, one in 
heaven and one on earth. Thereupon God placed his hand on 
the head of Adam and reduced him to a thousand cubits. 1 

To the question, How big was Adam ? the Talmud replies, 
He was made so tall that he stood with his head in heaven, 
till God pressed him down at the Fall. Rabbi Jehuda says, 
that as he lay stretched on the earth he covered it complete- 
ly ; 2 but the book Sepher Gilgulim says (fol. 20, col. 4), that 
when he' was made, his head and throat were in Paradise, and 
his body in the earth. To judge how long he was, says the 
same book, understand that his body stretched from one end 
of the earth to the other, and it takes a man five hundred 
years to walk that distance. 3 And when Adam was created, 
all the beasts of earth fell down before him and desired to 
worship him, but he said to them, " You have come to wor- 
ship me, but come and let us clothe ourselves with power and 
glory, and let us take Him to be king over us who has created 
us ; for a people chooses a king, but the king does not appoint 
himself monarch arbitrarily. ,, Therefore Adam chose God to 
be king of all the world, and the beasts, fowls, and fishes glad- 
ly consented thereto. 4 But the sun, seeing Adam, was filled 
with fear and became dark ; and the angels quaked and were 
dismayed, and prayed to God to remove from them this mighty 
being whom He had made. Then God cast a deep sleep on 
Adam, and the sun and the angels looked on him lying help- 
less in his slumber, and they plucked up courage and feared 
him no more. The book Sepher Chasidim, however, says, 
that the angels seeing Adam so great and with his face shining 
above the brightness of the sun, bowed before him, and said, 

1 Jalkut Schimoni, f. 6. 2 Tract Hagida, f. 12. 

8 Eisenmenger, i. p. 367. 4 Ibid., 368. 



H.J ADAM. 27 

1 Holy, holy, holy ! " Whereupon God cast a sleep upon him 
and cut off great pieces of his flesh to reduce him to smaller 
proportions. And when Adam woke he saw bits of flesh 
strewed all round him, like shavings in a carpenter's shop, and 
he exclaimed, " O God ! how hast Thou robbed me ? " but God 
answered, " Take these gobbets of flesh and carry them into all 
lands and drop them everywhere, and strew dust on them; 
and wherever they are laid, that land will I give to thy pos- 
terity to inherit" 1 

Many are the origins attributed to man in the various creeds 
of ancient and modern heathendom. Sometimes "lie is spoken 
of as having been made out of water, but more generally it is 
of earth that he has been made, or from which he has been 
spontaneously born. The Peruvians believed that the world 
was peopled by four men and four women, brothers and sisters, 
who emerged from the caves near Cuzco. Among the North 
American Indians the earth is regarded as the universal mother. 
Men came into existence in her womb, and crept out of it by 
climbing up the roots of the trees which hung from the vault 
in which they were conceived and matured ; or, mounting a 
deer, the animal brought them into daylight ; or, groping in 
darkness, they tore their way out with their nails. 2 

The Egyptian philosophers pretended that man was made 
of the mud of the Nile. 3 In Aristophanes, 4 man is spoken of 
as Tt\a6iJLOLia 7i7]\ ov. Among some of the Chinese it is believed 
that man was thus formed : — " The book Fong-zen-tong says : 
When the earth and heaven were made, there was not as yet 
man or peoples Then Niu-hoa moulded yellow earth, and of 
that made man. That is the true origin of men." B 

And the ancient Chaldeans supposed man was made by the 
mixing of the blood of Belus with the soil. 6 

2. THE PRE-ADAMITES. 

In 1655, Isaac de la Peyreira, a converted Jew, published 
a curious treatise on the Pre- Adamites. Arguing upon Ro- 

1 Eisenmenger, i. p. 369. 

2 Mtiller, Amerikanische Urreligionen ; Basle, 1855. Atherne Jones, 
North American Traditions, i. p. 210, etc. Heckewelder's Indian Na- 
tions, etc. 

3 Fourmont Anciens Peuples, i. lib. ii. p. 10. 4 Aves, 666. 

5 Memoires des Chinois, i. p. 105. 

6 Berosus, in Cory's Ancient Fragments, p. 26, 



;2 8 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [it 

mans v. 12-14, he contended that there were two creations 
of man ; that recorded in the first chapter of Genesis and that 
described in the second chapter being distinct The first race 
he supposed to have peopled the whole world, but that it was 
bad, and therefore Adam had been created with a spiritual 
soul, and that from Adam the Jewish race was descended, 
whereas the Gentile nations issued from the loins of the Pre- 
Adamites. Consequently the original sin of Adam weighed 
only on his descendants, and Peyreira supposed that it was his 
race alone which perished, with the exception of Noah and 
his family, in the Deluge, which Peyreira contends was partial. 
This book was condemned and burnt in Paris by the hands of 
the executioner, and the author, who had taken refuge in Brus- 
sels, was there condemned by the ecclesiastical authorities. 
He appealed to Rome, whither he journeyed, and he was re- 
ceived with favor by Alexander VII., before whom he abjured 
Calvinism, which he had professed. 

He died at the age of 82, at Aubervillicrs, near Paris, and 
Moreri wrote the following epigrammatic epitaph for him : — 

" La Peyrere ici git, ce bon Israelite, 
Huguenot, catholique, enfin pre-Adamite. 
Quatre religions lui plurent a la fois ; 

Et son indifference etait si peu commune, 
Qu'apres quatre-vingts ans qu'il eut a faire un choix, 

Le bon homme partit et n'en choisit aucune." 

The Oriental book Huschenk-Nameh gives a fuller history 
of the Pre-Adamites. Before Adam was created, says this book, 
there were in the isle Muscham, one of the Maldives, men 
with flat heads, and for this reason they were called by the 
Persians, Nim-ser. They were governed by a king named 
Dambac. 

When Adam, expelled the earthly Paradise, established him- 
self in the Isle of Ceylon, the flat-heads submitted to him. 
After his death they guarded his tomb by day, and the lions 
relieved guard by night, to protect his body against the Divs. 



m.J ADAM. 29 

III. 
EVE. 1 

That man was created double, u e. both male and female, 
is and has been a common opinion. One Rabbinical inter- 
pretation of the text, " And God created man in His own 
image, male-female created He them," is that Adam and Eve 
were formed back to back, united at the shoulders, and were 
hewn asunder with a hatchet ; but of this more presently. The 
Rabbis say that when Eve had to be drawn out of the side of 
Adam she was not extracted by the head, lest she should be 
vain ; nor by the eyes, lest they should be wanton ; nor by the 
mouth, lest she should be given to gossiping ; nor by the 
ears, lest she should be an eavesdropper ; nor by the hands, 
lest she should be meddlesome ; nor by the feet, lest she 
should be a gadabout ; nor by the heart, lest she should be 
jealous ; but she was drawn forth by the side : yet, notwith- 
standing all these precautions, she has every fault specially 
guarded against. 2 

They also say that, for the marriage-feast of Adam and 
Eve, God made a table of precious stone, and each gem was 
a hundred ells long and sixty ells wide, and the table was 
covered with costly dishes. 3 

The Mussulman tradition is, that Adam having eaten the 
bunch of grapes given him as a reward for having preached to 
the angels, fell asleep ; and whilst he slept, God took from his 
left side a woman whom He called Hava, because she was 
extracted from one living (Hai), and He laid her beside Adam. 
She resembled him exactly, except that her features were more 
delicate, her hair longer and divided into seven. hundred locks, 
her form more slender, her eyes softer, and her voice sweeter 
than Adam's. In the mean time Adam had been dreaming 

1 It is unfortunate that I have already written on the myths rela- 
ting to the formation of Eve in " Curiosities of Olden Times." I would 
therefore have omitted a chapter which must repeat what has been al- 
ready published, but that by so doing I should leave this work imperfect. 
However, there is much in this chapter which was not in the article re- 
ferred to. 

2 Rabboth, fol. 20 b. 3 Eisenmenger, i. 830. 



3 o OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [ill. 

that a wife had been given to him ; and when he woke, great 
was his delight to find his dream turned into a reality. He 
put forth his hand to take that of Hava, but she withdrew 
hers, answering his words of love with, " God is my master, 
and I cannot give my hand to thee without His permission ; 
and, moreover, it is not proper for a man to take a wife with- 
out making her a wedding present." 

Adam thereupon sent the angel Gabriel to ask God's per- 
mission to take to him Hava as his wife. Gabriel returned 
with the answer that she had been created to be his helpmate, 
and that he was to treat her with gentleness and love. For a 
present he must pray twenty times for Mohammed and for 
the prophets, who, in due season, were to be born of him. 
Ridhwan, the porter of Paradise, then brought to Adam the 
winged horse Meimun, and to Eve a light-footed she-camel. 
Gabriel helped them to mount and led them into Paradise, 
where they were greeted by all the angels and beasts with the 
words : " Hail, father and mother of Mohammed ! " 

In the midst of Paradise was a green silk tent spread for 
them, supported on gold pillars, and in the tent was a throne 
upon which Adam and Hava were seated. Then they were 
bathed in one of the rivers of Paradise and brought before the 
presence of God, who bade them dwell in Paradise. " I have 
prepared you this garden for your home ; in it you shall be 
protected from cold and heat, from hunger and thirst. Enjoy 
all that meets your eye, only of one fruit taste not. Beware 
how you break my command, and arm yourself against the 
subtlety of your foe, Eblis ; he envies you, and stands by you 
seeking to destroy you, for through you was he cast out." ' 

Tabari says that Adam was brought single into Paradise, 
through which he roamed eating from the fruit trees, and a deep 
sleep fell upon him, during which Eve was created from his 
left side. And when Adam opened his eyes, he saw her, and 
asked her who she was, and she replied, " I am thy wife ; God 
created me out of thee and for thee, that thy heart might find 
repose." The angels said to Adam : " What thing is this ? 
What is her name ? Why is she made ? " Adam replied, 
" This is Eve." Adam remained five hundred years in Para- 
dise. It was on a Friday that Adam entered Eden. 2 

The inhabitants of Madagascar have a strange myth touch- 

1 Weil, pp. T 7, 1 8. 2 Tabari, i. c. xxvi. 



1H.J EVE. 31 

ing the origin of woman. They say that the first man was 
created of the dust of the earth, and was placed in a garden, 
where he was subject to none of the ills which now affect 
mortality \ he was also free from all bodily appetites, and 
though surrounded by delicious fruit and limpid streams, yet 
felt no desire to taste of the fruit or to quaff the water. The 
Creator had, moreover, strictly forbidden him either to eat or 
to drink. The great enemy, however, came to him, and 
painted to him in glowing colors the sweetness of the apple, 
the lusciousness of the date, and the succulence of the orange. 

In vain : the first man remembered the command laid upon 
him by his Maker. Then the fiend assumed the appearance 
of an effulgent spirit, and pretended to be a messenger from 
Heaven commanding him to eat and drink. The man at once 
obeyed. Shortly after, a pimple appeared on his leg; the 
spot enlarged to a tumor, which increased in size and caused 
him considerable annoyance. At the end of six months it 
burst, and there emerged from the limb a beautiful girl. 

The father of all living was sorely perplexed what to make 
of his acquisition, when a messenger from heaven appeared, 
and told him to let her run about the garden till she was of a 
marriageable age, and then to take her to himself as his wife. 
He obeyed. He called her Bahouna, and she became the 
mother of all races of men. 

The notion of the first man having been of both sexes till 
the separation, was very common. He was said to have been 
male on the right side and female on the left, and that one half 
of him was removed to constitute Eve, but that the complete 
man consists of both sexes. 

Eugubinus among Christian commentators, the Rabbis 
Samuel, Manasseh Ben-Israel, and Maimonides among the 
Jews, have given the weight of their opinion to support this 
interpretation. The Rabbi Jeremiah Ben-Eleazer, on the au- 
thority of the text " Thou hast fashioned me behind and before " 
(Ps. cxxxix. 4), argued that Adam had two faces, one male 
and the other female, and that he was of both sexes. 1 

The Rabbi Samuel Ben-Nahaman held that the first man 
was created double, with a woman at his back, and that God 
cut them apart. 2 " Adam," said other Rabbis, " had two faces 

1 Talmud, Tract Berachoth, f. 61 ; Bartolocci Bibl. Rabbin., iv. p. 66. 
9 Bartolocci, Bibl. Rabbin., iv. p. 67. 



32 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS, [in 

and one tail, and from the beginning he was both male and fe- 
male, male on one side, female on the other ; but afterwards 
the parts were separated." ' 

The Talmudists assert that God cut off Adam's tail and 
thereof formed Eve. 2 

With this latter fable agrees the ludicrous myth of the Kit 
apoo Indians, related in my "Curiosities of Olden Times." 

In Aristophanes' speech in the Symposium of Plato, a 
myth is given, that in the beginning there was a race of men 
of which every member was double, having two heads, four 
legs and four arms, and each of both sexes. This race, says he, 
was filled with pride, and it attempted to scale heaven. The 
Gods desired at once to reduce their might and punish their 
temerity, but did not wish to destroy the human race ; conse- 
quently at the advice of Zeus, each androgyne was hewn assun- 
der, so as to leave to each half two arms and a pair of legs, one 
head and a single sex. 

An Indian tradition is to this effect. Whilst Brahma the 
creator was engaged in the production of beings, he saw Kaya 
(body) divide itself into two parts, of which each part was of a 
different sex, and thence sprang the whole human race. 3 

According to another much more explicit version, Viradi, 
the first man, finding his solitude intolerable, fell into the 
deepest sorrow ; and, yearning for a companion, his nature de- 
veloped into two sexes united in one. Then he separated into 
two individuals, but found in that separation unhappiness, for 
he was conscious of his imperfection ; then he reunited the 
existence of the two portions and was happy, and from that re- 
union the world was peopled. 4 

In Persia, Meschia and Meschiane, the first man and the 
first woman, were said to have formed originally but one 
body ; but they were cut apart, and from this voluntary reunion 
all men are sprung. 6 

The idea so prevalent that man without woman, or woman 
without man, is an imperfect being, was the cause of the great 
repugnance with which the Jews and other nations of the East 
regarded celibacy. The Rabbi Eliezer, commenting on the 
text "He called their name Adam" (Gen. v. 2), laid down 

1 Bartolocci, Bibl. Rabbin., iii. p. 395. 

* Ibid., p. 396 ; Eisenmenger, t. i. p. 365 

8 Bhagavat, iii. 12, 5 1. 

4 Colebrooke Miscell. Essays, p. i. 64. 6 Bundehesch, p. 377. 






in.] ■ EVE. 33 

that he who has not a wife is not a man, for man is the recom- 
position of male and female into one. 1 

Bramah, says an Indian legend, being charged with the 
production of the human race, felt himself a prey to violent 
pains, till his sides opened, and from one flank emerged a boy 
and from the other a girl. In China, the story is told that the 
Goddess Amida sweated male children out of her right arm- 
pit, and female children from her left arm-pit, and these chil- 
dren peopled the earth. 1 

Vishnu, according to an Indian fable, gave birth to Dharma 
by his right side, and to Adharma by his left side, and through 
Adharma death entered the world. 3 Another story is to the 
effect, that the right arm of Vena gave birth to Pritu, the mas- 
ter of the earth, and the left arm to the Virgin Archis, who be- 
came the bride of Pritu. 4 

Pygmalion, says the classic story, which is really a Phoe- 
nician myth of creation, made woman of marble or ivory, and 
Aphrodite, in answer to his prayers, endowed the statue with 
life. "Often does Pygmalion apply his hands to the work. 
One while he addresses it in soft terms, at another he brings 
it presents that are agreeable to maidens, as shells and smooth 
pebbles, and little birds, and flowers of a thousand hues, and 
lilies, and painted balls, and tears of the Heliades, that have 
distilled from the trees. He decks her limbs, too, with cloth- 
ing, and puts a long necklace on her neck. Smooth pendants 
hang from her ears, and bows from her breast. All things are 
becoming to her." 5 

But Hesiod gives a widely different account of the creation 
of woman. According to him, she was sent in mockery by 
Zeus to be a scourge to man : — 

" The Sire who rules the earth and sways the pole 
Had spoken ; laughter filled his secret soul : 
He bade the crippled god his hest obey, 
And mould with tempering water plastic clay ; 
With human nerve and human voice invest 
The limbs elastic, and the breathing breast ; 
Fair as the blooming goddesses above, 
A virgin likeness with the looks of love. 
He bade Minerva teach the skill that sheds 
A thousand colors in the glittering threads ; 

1 Bartolocci, Bibl. Rabbin., iv. p. 463. 

* Mendez Pinto, Voyages, ii. p. 178. 3 Bhagavat, iii. 12, 25. 

4 Ibid., iv. 15, 27. ' 6 Ovid, Metamorph., x. 7. 

2* 



34 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. I"™- 

He called the magic of love's golden queen 
To breathe around a witchery of mien, 
And eager passion's never-sated flame, 
And cares of dress that prey upon the frame ; 
Bade Hermes last endue, with craft refined 
. Of treacherous manners, and a shameless mind." ' 

That Eve was Adam's second wife was a common Rabbin- 
ic speculation ; certain of the commentators on Genesis hav- 
ing adopted this view to account for the double account of the 
creation of woman in the sacred text, — first in Genesis i. 27, 
and secondly in Genesis ii. 18 ; and they say that Adam's 
first wife was named Lilith, but she was expelled from Eden, 
and after her expulsion Eve was created. 

Abraham Ecchellensis gives the following account of Lilith, 
and her doings : — " There are some who do not regard spec- 
tres as simple devils, but suppose them to be of a mixed na- 
ture, part demoniacal, part human, and to have had their ori- 
gin from Lilith, Adam's first wife, by Eblis, the prince of the 
devils. This fable has been transmitted to the Arabs from 
Jewish sources, by some converts of Mahomet from Cabbal- 
ism and Rabbinism, who have transferred all the Jewish fool- 
eries to the Arabs. They gave to Adam a wife, formed of 
clay, along with Adam, and called her Lilith ; resting on the 
Scripture, 'male and female created He them:' 2 but when this 
woman, on account of her simultaneous creation with him, be- 
came proud and a vexation to her husband, God expelled her 
from Paradise, and then said, ' // is not good that the nian should 
be alone ; I will make him a help meet for him.' 3 And this they 
confirm by the words of Adam when he saw the woman fash- 
ioned from his rib, ' This is now bone of my bone, and flesh of my 
flesh] 4 which is as much as to say, Now God has given me a 
wife and companion, suitable to me, taken from my bone and 
flesh, but the other wife he gave me was not of my bone and 
flesh, and therefore was not a suitable companion and wife for 
me. 

" But Lilith, after she was expelled from Paradise, is said 
to have married the Devil, by whom she had children, who 
are called Jins. These were endued with six qualities, of which 
they share three with men, and three with devils. Like men, 
they generate in their own likeness, eat food, and die. Like 

1 Hesiod, Works and Days, 61-79. 

* Gen. i. 27. 3 Ibid., ii. 18. 4 Ibid., 23. 



in.] EVE. 35 

devils, they are winged, and they fly where they list with great 
velocity ; they are invisible, and they can pass through solid 
substances without injuring them. This race of Jins is sup- 
posed to be less noxious to men, and indeed to live in some 
familiarity and friendship with them, as in part sharers of their 
natuie. The author of the history and acts of Alexander of 
Macedon relates, that in a certain region of India, on certain 
houis of the day, the young Jins assume a human form, and 
appear openly and play games with the native children of hu- 
man parents quite familiarly." ' 

It must not be supposed that women, as they are now, are 
at all comparable to Eve in her pristine beauty ; on this point 
the Talmud says : " All women in respect of Sarah are like 
monkeys in respect of men. But Sarah can no more be com- 
pared to Eve than can a monkey be compared with a man. In 
like manner it may be said, if any comparison could be drawn 
between Eve and Adam, she stood to him in the same relation 
of beauty as does a monkey to a man ; but if you were to com- 
pare Adam with God, Adam would be the monkey, and God 
the man." 2 

Literary ladies may point to the primal mother as the first 
authoress; for a Gospel of Eve existed in the times of S. 
Epiphanius, who mentions it as being in repute among the 
Gnostics. 3 And the Mussulmans attribute to her a volume of 
Prophecies which were written at her dictation by the Angel 
Raphael. 4 

All ladies will be glad to learn that there is a tradition, 
Manichean, it is true, and anathematized by S. Clement, which 
nevertheless contains a large element of truth ; it is to this ef- 
fect, that Adam, when made, was like a beast, coarse, rude, 
and inanimate, but that from Eve he received his upright po- 
sition, his polish, and his spirituality. 5 

1 Abraham Ecchellensis, Hist. Arabum, p. 268. 

? Talmud, Tract. Bava Bathra. 3 S. Epiphan. Haeres., xxvi. 

4 Tho. Bangius, Ccelum Orientis, p. 103. 

6 S. Clemen ti Recog., c. iv. 



36 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. fni. 

IV. 
THE FALL OF MAN. 

What was the tree of which our first parents were forbid- 
den to eat ? In Midrash, f. 7, the Rabbi Mayer says it was a 
wheat-tree ; the Rabbi Jehuda, that it was a grape-vine ; the 
Rabbi Aba, that it was a Paradise-apple ; the Rabbi Josse, that 
it was a fig-tree : therefore it was that, when driven out of Par- 
adise, they used its leaves for a covering. 

The Persian story, adopted by the Arabs, is that the for- 
bidden fruit was wheat, and that it grew on a tree whose trunk 
resembled gold and its branches silver. Each branch bore 
five shining ears, and each ear contained five grains as big as 
the eggs of an ostrich, as fragrant as musk, and as sweet as 
honey. The people of Southern America suppose it was the 
banana, whose fibres form the cross, and they say that thus, in 
it, Adam discovered the mystery of the Redemption. The in- 
habitants of the island of St. Vincent think it was the tobacco 
plant. But, according to an Iroquois legend, the great mother 
of the human race lost heaven for a pot of bears' grease. 1 The 
story is as follows : — The first men living alone were, 

" By the viewless winds, 
Blown with resistless violence round about 
The pendant world." 

Fearing the extinction of their race, and having learnt that a 
woman dwelt somewhere in the heavens, they deputed one of 
their number to seek her out. This messenger of mankind 
was borne to the skies on the wings of assembled birds ; and 
then watched at the foot of a tree till the woman came forth to 
draw water from a neighboring well. On her approach he ad- 
dressed her, offered her bears' fat, and then seduced her. The 
Deity perceiving her shame, in his anger thrust her out of 
heaven. The tortoise received her on his back ; and from the 
depths of the sea the fish brought clay, and thus gradually 
built up an island on which the universal mother brought forth 
her first twins. 

1 Lafitau, Moeurs des Sauvages Amenquaines, i. p. 93. 



IV.] THE FALL OF MAN. 37 

According to the traditions of the Lamaic faith, the first men 
lived to the age of sixty thousand years. 1 They were invisibly 
nourished, and were able to raise themselves at will to the 
heavens. In this age of the world the transmigration of souls 
was universal, — all men were twice born ; and in this age it was 
that the thousand gods settled themselves in heaven. In an 
unlucky hour the earth produced a honey-sweet substance : one 
of the men lusted after it, tasted and gave to his companions ; 
the consequence was, that the men lost the power of rising 
from off the earth, their size, and their wisdom, and were obliged 
to satisfy themselves with food produced by the soil. 

The Nepaul account of the beginning of sin is as follows : 
" Originally," says one of the Tantras, " the earth was unin- 
habited. In those times the inhabitants of Abhaswara, one of 
the heavenly mansions, used frequently to visit the earth, and 
thence speedily return. It happened at length that when a 
few of these beings, who though half male, half female, through 
the innocence of their minds had never noticed their distinc- 
tion of sex, came as usual to the earth, Adi Buddha suddenly 
created in them so violent a longing to eat, that they ate some 
of the earth, which had the taste of almonds; and by eating 
it they lost their power of flying back to heaven, and so they 
remained on the earth. They were now constrained to eat the 
fruits of the earth for sustenance. " 2 

According to the Cinghalese, the Brahmas inhabited the 
higher regions of the air, where they enjoyed perfect happiness. 
" But it came to pass that one of them beholding the earth said 
to himself, What thing is this ? and with one of his fingers 
having touched the earth, he put it to the tip of his tongue, and 
perceived the same to be deliriously sw r eet ; from that time all 
the Brahmas ate of the sweet earth for the space of sixty thou- 
sand years, In the mean time, having coveted in their hearts 
the enjoyment of this earth, they began to say to one another, 
This part is mine and that is thine ; and so fixing boundaries 
to their respective shares, divided the earth between them. On 
account of the Brahmas having been guilty of covetousness, 
the earth lost its sweetness, and then brought forth a kind of 
mushroom," which the Brahmas also coveted and divided, and 
of which they were also deprived ; and thus they proceeded 
from food to food, till their nature was changed, and from 

1 Pallas, Reise, i. p. 334. 2 Hodgson, Buddhism, p. 63. 



38 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [it 

spirits they became men, imbibed wicked ideas, and lost their 
ancient glory. 1 

According to the Chinese, man is part spirit, part animal 
The spirit follows the laws of Heaven, as a disciple his master y 
the animal, on the other hand, is the slave of sense. At his 
origin, man obeyed the heavens ; his first state was one of in- 
nocence and happiness ; he knew neither disease nor death ; he 
was by instinct wholly good and spiritual. But the immoder- 
ate desire to be wise, or, according to Lao-tsee, to eat, was the 
ruin of mankind. 2 

According to the Persian faith, the father of man had heav- 
en for his destiny, but he must be humble of heart, pure of 
thought, of word and of deed, not invoking the Divs : and such 
in the beginning were the thoughts and acts of our first parents. 

First they said, " it is Ormuzd (God) who has given the 
water, the earth, the trees, and the beasts of the field, and the 
stars, the moon, the sun, and all things pure." But Ahriman 
(Satan) arose, and rushed upon their thoughts and said to them, 
"It is Ahriman who has given these things to you." Thus 
Ahriman deceived them, and to the end will deceive. To this 
lie they gave credence and became Darvands, and their souls 
were condemned till the great resurrection of the body. Dur- 
ing thirty days they feasted and covered themselves with black 
garments. After thirty days they went to the chase ; and they 
found a white goat, and with their lips they drew off her milk, 
and drank her milk and were glad. " We have tasted nothing 
like to this milk," said our first parents, Meschia and Meschiane ; 
" the milk we have drunk was pleasant to the taste," but it was 
an evil thing to their bodies. 

" Then the Div, the liar, grown more bold, presented him- 
self a second time, and brought with him fruit of which they 
ate ; and of a hundred excellences they before possessed, they 
now retained not one. And after thirty days and nights they 
found a white and fat sheep, and they cut off its left ear; and 
they fired a tree, and with their breath raised the fire to a flame ; 
and they burned part of the branches of that tree, then of the 
tree khorma, and afterwards of the myrtle ; and they roasted 
the sheep, and divided it into three portions : and of the two 

1 Upliam, Sacred Books of Ceylon, iii. 156. 
* Memoires Chinois, i. p. 107. 



IV.] THE FALL OF MAN. 39 

which they did not eat, one was carried to heaven by the bird 
Kehrkas. 

" Afterwards they feasted on the flesh of a dog, and they 
clothed themselves in its skin. They gave themselves up to 
the chase, and with the furs of wild beasts they covered their 
bodies. 

" And Meschia and Meschiane digged a hole in the earth, 
and they found iron, and the iron they beat with a stone ; and 
they made for themselves an axe, and they struck at the roots 
of a tree, and they felled the tree and arranged its branches 
into a hut ; and to God they gave no thanks ; and the Divs took 
heart. 

" And Meschia and Meschiane became enemies, and struck 
and wounded each other and separated; then from out of the 
place of darkness the chief of the Divs was heard to cry aloud : 
O man, worship the Divs ! And the Div of Hate sat upon 
his throne. And Meschia approached and drew milk from 
the bull, and sprinkled it towards the north, and the Divs be- 
came strong. But during fifty winters, Meschia and Meschiane 
lived apart ; and after that time they met, and Meschiane bare 
twins." x 

The story told by~the Mussulmans is as follows : — 

Adam and Eve lived for five hundred years in Paradise 
before they ate of the tree and fell ; for Eblis was outside, and 
could not enter the gates to deceive them. 

For five hundred years Eblis sought admission, but the an 
gel Ridhwan warned him off with his flaming sword. 

One day the peacock came through the gates of Paradise. 
This bird, with the feathers of emeralds and pearls, was not 
only the most beautiful creature God had made, but it had 
also been endowed with a sweet and clear voice, wherewith it 
daily sang the praises of God in the highways of Eden. 

This beautiful bird, thought Eblis, when he saw it, is sure- 
ly vain, and will listen to the voice of flattery. 

Thereupon he addressed it as a stranger, beyond the hear- 
ing of Ridhwan. " Most beautiful of all birds, do you belong 
to the denizens of Paradise ? " 

" Certainly," answered the peacock. " And who are you 
who look from side to side in fear and trembling ? " 

1 Bundehesch in Windischmann : Zoroastrische Studien. Berlin, 1863, 
p. 82 ; and tr. A. du Perron, ii. pp. 77-80. 



4 o OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS, [it. 

" I belong to the Cherubim who praise God night and day, 
and I have slipped out of their ranks without being observed, 
that I might take a glimpse of the Paradise, God has prepared 
for the saints. Will you hide me under your feathers, and 
show me the garden ? " 

" How shall I do that which may draw down on me God's 
disfavor ? " asked the peacock. 

" Magnificent creature ! take me with you. I will teach 
you three words which will save you from sickness, old age, 
and death." 

" Must then the dwellers in Paradise die ? " 

" All, without exception, who know not these three words." 

" Is this the truth ? " 

"By God the Almighty it is so." 

The peacock believed the oath, for it could not suppose 
that a creature would swear a false oath by its Creator. But, 
as it feared that Ridhwan would search it on its return through 
the gates, it hesitated to take Eblis with it, but promised to 
send the cunning serpent out, who would certainly devise a 
means of introducing Eblis into the garden. 

The serpent was formerly queen of all creatures. She had 
a head like rubies, and eyes like emeralds. Her height was 
that of a camel, and the most beautiful colors adorned her 
skin, and her hair and face were those of a beautiful maiden. 
She was fragrant as musk and amber ; her food was saffron ; 
sweet hymns of praise were uttered by her melodious tongues ; 
she slept by the waters of the heavenly river Kaulhar ; she 
had been created a thousand years before man, and was Eve's 
favorite companion. 

This beautiful and wise creature, thought the peacock, will 
desire more even than myself to possess perpetual youth 
and health, and will gladly admit the cherub for the sake 
of hearing the three words. The bird was not mistaken • as 
soon as it had told the story, the serpent exclaimed : " What ! 
shall I grow old and die ? Shall my beautiful face become 
wrinkled, my eyes close, and my body dissolve into dust? 
Never ! rather will I brave Ridhwan's anger and introduce the 
cherub." 

The serpent accordingly glided out of the gates of Paradise, 
and bade Eblis tell her what he had told the peacock. 

" How shall I bring you unobserved into Paradise ? " ask- 
ed the serpent. 



IV.] THE FALL OF MAN. 4I 

" I will make myself so small that I can sit in the nick be- 
tween your front teeth," answered the fallen angel. 1 

"But how then can I answer when Ridhwan addresses 
me?" 

" Fear not. I will whisper holy names, at which Ridhwan 
will keep silence." 

The serpent thereupon opened her mouth, Eblis flew in 
and seated himself between her teeth, and by so doing poison- 
ed them for all eternity. 

When she had passed Ridhwan in security, the serpent 
opened her mouth and asked Eblis to take her with him to 
the highest heaven, where she might behold the majesty of 
God. 

Eblis answered that he was not ready to leave yet, but that 
he desired to speak to Adam out of her mouth, and to this she 
consented, fearing Ridhwan, and greatly desiring to hear and 
learn the three salutary words. Having reached Eve's tent, 
Eblis uttered a deep sigh — it was the first that had been heard 
in Eden, and it was caused by envy. 

" Why are you so disquieted, gentle serpent ? " asked Eve. 

" I am troubled for Adam's future," answered the evil spirit, 
affecting the voice of the serpent. 

" What ! have we not all that can be desired in this garden 
of God?" 

u That is true ; but the noblest fruit of the garden, the only 
one securing to you perfect happiness, is denied to your lips." 

" Have we not abundance of fruit of every color and flavor 
— only one is forbidden ? " 

" And if you knew why that one is forbidden, you would 
find little pleasure in tasting the others." 

" Do you know ? " 

" I do, and for that reason am I so cast down. This fruit 
alone gives eternal youth and health, whereas all the others 
give weakness, disease, old age and death, which is the cessa- 
tion of life with all its joys." 

" Why, dearest serpent, did you never tell me this before ? 
Whence know you these things ? " 

" An angel told me this as I lay under the forbidden tree." 

" I must also see him," said Eve, leaving her tent and going 
towards the tree. 

1 So also Abulfeda, Hist. Ante-Islamica, p. 13. 



42 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [iv. 

At this moment Eblis flew out of the serpent's mouth, and 
stood in human form beneath the tree. 

" Who art thou, wondrous being, the like of whom I have 
not seen before ? " asked Eve. 

"I am a man who have become an angel." 

" And how didst thou become an angel ? " 

" By eating of this fruit," answered the tempter, — " this fruit 
which is denied us through the envy of God. I dared to break 
His command as I grew old and feeble, and my eyes waxed 
dim, my ears dull, and my teeth fell out, so that I could neither 
speak plainly nor enjoy my food ; my hands shook, my feet 
tottered, my head was bent upon my breast, my back was bow- 
ed, and I became so hideous that all the beasts of the garden 
fled from me in fear. Then I sighed for death, and hoping to 
find it in the fruit of this tree, I ate, and lo ! instantly I was 
young again ; though a thousand years had elapsed since I was 
made, they had fled with all their traces, and I enjoy perpetu- 
al health and youth and beauty." 

" Do you speak the truth ? " asked Eve. 

" I swear by God who made me." 

Eve believed this oath, and broke a branch from the 
wheat-tree. 

Before the Fall, wheat grew to a tree with leaves like emer- 
alds. The ears were red as rubies and the grains white as 
snow, sweet as honey, and fragrant as musk. Eve ate one of 
the grains and found it more delicious than any thing she had 
hitherto tasted, so she gave a second grain to Adam. Adam 
resisted at first, according to some authorities for a whole hour, 
but an hour in Paradise was eighty years of our earthly reckon- 
ing. But when he saw that Eve remained well and cheerful, 
he yielded to her persuasions, and ate of the second grain 
which Eve had offered him daily, three times a day, during the 
hour of eighty years. Thereupon all Adam's heaven-given 
raiment fell from him, his crown slipped off his head, his rings 
dropped from his fingers, his silken garments glided like water 
from his shoulders, and he and Eve were naked and unadorned, 
and their fallen garments reproached them with the words, 
" Great is your misfortune ; long will be your sorrows ; we 
were created to adorn those who serve God ; farewell till the 
resurrection ! " 

The throne recoiled from them and exclaimed, " Depart 
from me, ye disobedient ones ! " The horse Meimun, which 



IV.] THE FALL OF MAN. 43 

Adam sought to mount, plunged and refused to allow him to 
touch it, saying, " How hast thou kept God's covenant ? " All 
the inhabitants of Paradise turned their backs on the pair, and 
prayed God to remove the man and the woman from the midst 
of them. 

God himself addressed Adam with a voice of thunder, say- 
ing, " Did not I forbid thee to touch of this fruit, and caution 
thee against the subtlety of thy foe, Eblis?" Adam and Eve 
tried to fly these reproaches, but the branches of the tree Talh 
caught Adam, and Eve entangled herself in her long hair. 

" From the wrath of God there is no escape," cried a voice 
from the tree Talh ; "obey the commandment of God." 

" Depart from Paradise," then spake God, " thou Adam, 
thy wife, and the animals which led you into sin. The earth 
shall be your abode ; in the sweat of thy brow shalt thou find 
food ; the produce of earth shall cause envy and contention ; 
Eve (Hava) shall be afflicted with a variety of strange affec- 
tions, and shall bring forth offspring in pain. The peacock 
shall lose its melodious voice, and the serpent its feet ; dark 
and noisome shall be the den in which the serpent shall dwell, 
dust shall be its meat, and its destruction shall be a meritori- 
ous work. Eblis shall be cast into the torments of hell." 

Our parents were then driven out of Paradise, and one leaf 
alone was given to each, wherewith to hide their nakedness. 
Adam was expelled through the gate of Repentance, that he 
might know that through it alone could Paradise be regained ; 
Eve was banished through the gate of grace ; the peacock and 
the serpent through that of Wrath, and Eblis through the gate 
of Damnation. Adam fell into the island Serendib (Ceylon), 
Eve at Jedda, the Serpent into the desert of Sahara, the Pea- 
cock into Persia, and Eblis into the river Eila. 1 

Tabari says that when the forbidden wheat had entered the 
belly of Adam and Eve, all the skin came off, except from the 
ends of the fingers. Now this skin had been pink and horny, 
so that they had been invulnerable in Paradise, and they were 
left naked and with a tender skin which could easily be lacer- 
ated ; but as often as Adam and Eve looked on their finger- 
nails, they remembered what skin they had worn in Eden. 2 

Tabari also says that four trees pitying the shame of Adam 
and Eve, the Peacock, and the Serpent, in being driven naked 
out of Paradise, bowed their branches and gave each a leaf. 
1 Weil, pp. 19-28. 2 Tabari, i. p. 80. 



44 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [nr. 

Certain Rabbis say that Adam ate only on compulsion, that 
he refused, but Eve " took of the tree," — that is, broke a branch 
and " gave it him," with the stick. 

According to the Talmudic book, Emek Hammelech (f. 23, 
col. 3), Eve, on eating the fruit, felt in herself the poison of 
Jezer hara, or Original sin, and resolved that Adam should not 
be without it also ; she made him eat and then forced the fruit 
on the animals, that they might all, without exception, fall undei 
the same condemnation, and become subject to death. But 
the bird Choi — that is, the Phoenix — would not be deceived, 
but flew away and would not eat. And now the Phoenix, says 
the Rabbi Joden after the Rabbi Simeon, lives a thousand 
years, then shrivels up till it is the size of an egg, and then 
from himself he emerges young and beautiful again. 

We have seen what are the Asiatic myths relating to Adam 
and Eve ; let us now turn to Africa. In Egypt it was related 
that Osiris lived with Isis his sister and wife in Nysa, or Par- 
adise, which was situated in Arabia. This Paradise was an 
island, surrounded by the stream Triton, but it was also a steep 
mountain that could only be reached on one side. It was 
adorned with beautiful flowers and trees laden with pleasant 
fruits, watered by sweet streams, and in it dwelt the deathless 
ones. 

There Osiris found the vine, and Isis the wheat, to become 
the food and drink of men. There they built a golden temple, 
and lived in supreme happiness till Mie desire came on Osiris 
to discover the water of Immortality, in seeking which he left 
Nysa, and was in the end slain by Typhon. 1 

The following is a very curious negro tradition, taken down 
by Dr. Tutschek from a native in Turn ale, near the centre of 
Africa. 

Til (God) made men and bade them live together in peace 
and happiness, labor five days, and keep the sixth as a festival. 
They were forbidden to hurt the beasts or reptiles. They 
themselves were deathless, but the animals suffered death. 
The frog was accursed by God, because when He was making 
the animals it hopped over his foot. Then God ordered the 
men to build mountains: they did so, but they soon forgot 
God's commands, killed the beasts and quarrelled with one 
another. Wherefore Til (God) sent fire and destroyed them, 

1 Diod. Sicul., 14 et seq. 






TV.] THE FALL OF MAN. 45 

but saved one of the race, named Musikdegen, alive. Then 
Til began to re-create beings. He stood before a wood and 
called, Ombo Abnatum Dgu ! and there came out a gazelle and 
licked His feet. So He said, stand up, Gazelle ! and when it 
stood up, its beast-form disappeared, and it was a beautiful 
maiden, and He called her Mariam. He blessed her, and she 
bore four children, a white pair and a black pair. When they 
were grown up, God ordered them to marry, the white together 
and the black together. In Dai, the story goes that Til cut out 
both Mariam's knee-caps, and of each He made a pair of chil- 
dren. Those which were white He sent north ; those which were 
black He gave possession of the land where they were born. 

God then made the animals subject to death, but the men 
He made were immortal. But the new created men became 
disobedient, as had the first creatures ; and the frog complain- 
ed to Him of His injustice in having made the harmless ani- 
mals subject to death, but guilty man deathless. " Thou art 
right," answered Til, and He cast on the men He had made, 
old age, sickness, and death. 1 

The Fantis relate that they are not in the same condition 
as that in which they were made, for their first parents had 
been placed in a lofty and more suitable country, but God 
drave them into an inferior habitation, that they might learn 
humility. On the Gold Coast the reason of the Fall is said 
to have been that the first men were offered the choice of 
gold or of wisdom, and they chose the former. 2 

In Ashantee the story is thus told. In the beginning, God 
created three white and three black men and women, and gave 
them the choice between good and evil. A great calabash 
was placed on the earth, as also a sealed paper, and God gave 
the black men the first choice. They took the calabash, think- 
ing it contained every thing, and in it were only a lump of gold, 
a bar of iron, and some other metals. The white men took the 
sealed paper, in which they learned every thing. So God left 
the black men in the bush and took the white men to the sea, 
and He taught them how to build ships and go into another 
land. This fall from God caused the black men 'to worship 
the subsidiary Fetishes instead of Him. 3 

1 Ausland fur Nov. 4, 1847. 

' W. Smith, Nouveau Voyage de Guinee. Paris, 175 1, ii. p. 176. 
8 Bowdler, Mission from Cape Coast to Ashantee. London, 1810* 
P- 344. 



4 6 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [iv 

In Greenland " the first man is said to have been Kallak. 
He came out of the earth, but his wife issued from his thumb, 
and from them all generations of men have sprung. To him 
many attribute the origin of all things. The woman brought 
death into the world, in that she said, Let us die to make room 
for our successors." l 

The tradition of the Dog-rib Indians near the Polar Sea, as 
related by Sir J. Franklin in his account of his expedition of 
1825-27, is that the first man was called Tschapiwih. He 
found the earth filled with abundance of all good things. He 
begat children and he gave to them two sorts of fruit, one 
white and the other black, and he bade them eat the white, 
but eschew the black. And having given them this command, 
he left them and went a long journey to fetch the sun to en- 
lighten the world. During his absence they ate only of the 
white fruit, and then the father made a second journey to fetch 
the moon, leaving them well provided with fruit. But after 
a while they forgot his command, and consumed the black 
fruit. On his return he was angry, and cursed the ground that 
it should thenceforth produce only the black fruit, and that 
with it should come in sickness and death. 

Dr. Hunter, in his " Memoirs of Captivity amongst the In- 
dians," says that the Delawares believe that in the beginning 
the Red men had short tails, but they blasphemed the Great 
Spirit, and in punishment for their sin their tails were cut off 
and transformed into women, to be their perpetual worry. The 
same story is told by Mr. Atherne Jones, as heard by him 
among the Kikapoos. 

The ancient Mexicans had a myth of Xolotl, making out of 
a man's bone the primeval mother in the heavenly Paradise ; 
and he called the woman he had made Cihuacouhatl, which 
means " The woman with the serpent," or Quilatzli, which 
means "The woman of our flesh." She was the mother of 
twins, and is represented in a Mexican hieroglyph as speaking 
with the serpent, whilst behind her stand the twins, whose dif- 
ferent characters are represented by different colors, one of 
whom is represented slaying the other. 2 Xolotl, who made 
her out of a bone, was cast out of heaven and became the first 
man. That the Mexicans had other traditions, now lost, touch- 

1 Cranz, Historie von Gronland. Leipzig, 1770, i. p. 262. 

2 Humboldt, Pittoreske Ansichten d. Cordilleren ; Plate xiil. and ej& 
planation, ii. pp. 41, 42. 



IV.] THE FALL OF MAN. 47 

ing this matter is probable, for they had a form of baptism for 
children in which they prayed that those baptized might be 
washed from u the original sin committed before the founding 
of the world." And this had to do, in all probability, with a 
legend akin to that of the Iroquois, who told of the primeval 
mother falling, and then of the earth being built up to receive 
her, when precipitated out of heaven. 

The Caribs of South America relate that Luoguo, the first 
man and god, created the earth and the sea, and made the 
earth as fair as the beautiful garden in the heaven where dwell 
the gods. Luoguo dwelt among the men he had made for 
some while. He drew the men out of his navel and out of his 
thigh which he cut open. One of the first men was Racumon, 
who was transformed into a great serpent with a human head, 
and he lived twined round a great Cabatas tree and ate of its 
fruit, and gave to those who passed by. Then the Caribs lived 
to a great age, and never waxed old or died. Afterwards they 
found a garden planted with manioc, and on that they fed. 
But they became wicked, and a flood came and swept them 
away. 1 

In the South Sea Islands we find other traditions of the 
Fall. In Alea, one of the Caroline Islands, the tale runs 
thus : — 

" The sister of Eliulap the first man, who was also a god, 
felt herself in labor, so she descended to earth and there 
brought forth three children. To her astonishment she found 
the earth barren \ therefore by her mighty word, she clothed it 
with herbage and peopled it with beasts and birds. And the 
world became very beautiful, and her sons were happy and did 
not feel sickness or death, but at the close of every month fell 
into a slumber from which they awoke renewed in strength and 
beauty. But Erigeres, the bad spirit, envied this happiness, 
so he came to the world and introduced into it pain, age, and 
death." 2 

With the Jewish additions to the story given in Genesis, 
we shall conclude. 

The godless Sammael had made an alliance with all the 
chiefs of his hosts against the Lord, because that the holy and 
ever blessed Lord had said to Adam and Eve, " Have dominion 
over the fish of the sea," etc. ; and he said, " How can I make 

1 De la Borde, Reise zu den Caraiben. Ntirnb. 1782, i. pp. 380-5. 
* Allg. Hist, der Reiser*, xviii. p. 395. 



48 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS, [v. 

man to sin and drive him out ? " Then he went down to earth 
with all his host, and he sought for a companion like to him- 
self; he chose the serpent, which was in size like a camel, 
and he seated himself on its back and rode up to the woman, 
and said to her, " Hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree 
of the garden ? " And he thought, " I will ask more presently." 
Then she answered, " He has only forbidden me the fruit of 
the Tree of Knowlege which is in the midst of the garden. 
And He said, ' In the day thou touchest it thou shalt die.' " 
She added two words ; God did not say any thing to her about 
touching it, and she spoke of the fruit, whereas God said the 
Tree. 

Then the godless one, Sammael, went up to the tree and 
touched it. But the tree cried out, "Let not the foot of pride 
come against me, and let not the hand of the ungodly cast me 
down / Touch me not, thou godless one ! " 

Then Sammael called to the woman, and said, " See, I 
have touched the tree and am not dead. Do you also touch 
it and try." But when Eve drew near to the tree she saw the 
Angel of Death waiting sword in hand, and she said in her 
heart, " Perhaps I am to die, and then God will create another 
wife for Adam ; that shall not be, he must die too." So she 
gave him of the fruit. And when he took it and bit, his 
teeth were blunted, and thus it is that the back teeth of men 
are no longer sharp. 1 



ADAM AND EVE AFTER THE FALL. 

When Adam reached the earth, the Eagle said to the Whale, 
with whom it had hitherto lived in the closest intimacy, 
" Now we must part, for there is no safety for us animals since 
man has come amongst us. The deepest abysses of ocean 
must be thy refuge, and thou must protect thyself with cun- 
ning from the great foe who has entered the earth. I must 
soar high above the clouds, and there find a place of escape 
from him who is destined to be my pursuer till death." 2 

According to certain cabbalistic Rabbis, Adam, when cast 
out of Eden, was precipitated into Gehenna, but he escaped 

1 Eisenmenger, i. pp. 827-9. l Weil. o. 28. 



V.J AlsAM and eve after the fall. 4 9 

therefrom to earth, by repeating and pronouncing properly the 
mystic word Laverererareri. 1 In the Talmud it is related that 
when Adam heard the words of God, " Thou shalt eat the herb 
of the field" (Gen. iii. 18), he trembled in all his limbs, and 
exclaimed, " O Lord of all the world ! I and my beast, the 
Ass, shall have to eat out of the same manger ! " But God 
said to him, because he trembled, " Thou shalt eat bread in 
the sweat of thy brow." 2 

Learned Rabbis assert that the angel Raphael had instructed 
Adam in all kinds of knowledge out of a book, and this book 
contained mighty mysteries which the highest angels could not 
fathom, and knew not ; and before the Fall the angels used to 
assemble in crowds, and listen to Adam instructing them in 
hidden wisdom. In that book were seventy-two parts and six 
hundred and seventy writings, and all this was known : but 
from the middle of the book to the end were the one thousand 
five hundred hidden secrets of Wisdom, and these Adam began 
to reveal to the angels till he was arrested by the angel Had- 
darniel. This book Adam preserved and read in daily ; but 
when he had sinned, it fled out of his hands and flew away, and 
he went into the river Gihon up to his neck, and the water 
washed the glory wherewith he had shone in Paradise from 
off his body. But God was merciful, and He restored to him 
the book by the hands of Raphael, and he left it to his son 
Seth, and Enoch and Abraham read in this book. 8 

Along with the book Adam retained the rod which God had 
created at the close of the Sabbath, between sun and sun ; u e. 
between nightfall and daybreak, so says the Rabbi Levi. Adam 
left it to Enoch, and Enoch gave it to Noah, and Noah gave it 
to Shem, and Shem to Abraham, and Abraham delivered it 
to Isaac, and Isaac gave it to Jacob ; Jacob brought the staff 
with him to Egypt, and gave it to his son Joseph. Now when 
Joseph died, his house was plundered by the Egyptians, and 
all his effects were taken into Pharaoh's house. Jethro was a 
mighty magician, and when he saw the staff of Adam and read 
the writing thereon, he went forth into Edom and planted it in 
his garden. And Jethro would allow none to touch it ; but 
when he saw Moses he said, " This is he who will deliver Isra- 
el out of Egypt." Wherefore he gave him his daughter Zip- 

1 Basnage, Histoire des Juifs. La Haye, iii. p. 391. 

* Tract. Avod., f. I. col. 3 ; also Tract. Pesachim, f. 118, col. I. 

5 Eisenmenger, i. pp. 376, 377. 

3 



5 o OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [v 

porah and the staff. But the book Midrash Vajoscha relates 
this rather differently, in the words of Moses himself: " After 
I had become great I went out, and seeing an Egyptian ill 
treat a Hebrew man of my brethren, I slew him and buried 
him in the sand. But when Pharoah heard this he sought to 
slay me, and brought a sharp sword the like of which was not 
in the world ; and therewith I was ten times smitten on my 
neck. But the Holy God wrought a miracle, for my neck be- 
came as hard as a marble pillar, so that the sword had no pow- 
er over me, And I was forty years old when I fled out of 
Egypt ; and I came to Jethro's house and stood by the well 
and found Zipporah his daughter ; and when I saw her, I was 
pleased with her, and asked her to marry me. Then she re- 
lated to me her father's custom, and it was this. ' My fathei 
proves every suitor for my hand by a tree which is in his gar- 
den ; and when he comes to the tree, the tree clasps him in its 
branches.' Then I asked her where such a tree was, and she 
answered me, ' This is the staff which God created on the eve 
of the Sabbath, which was handed down from Adam to Jo- 
seph ; but Jethro saw the staff at the plundering of Joseph's 
house, and he took it away with him from Pharaoh's palace 
and brought it here. This is the staff on which is cut the 
Schem hammphorasch and the ten plagues that are in store for 
Egypt, and these are indicated by ten letters on the staff, and 
they stand thus : dam, blood ; zephardeim, frogs ; kinnim, lice ; 
arof, various insects ; defer, murrain ; schechim, blain ; barad, 
hail ; arbeh, locusts ; choschech, darkness ; and bechor, first 
born : — these will be the plagues of Egypt. This staff was for 
many days and years in my father's house, till he one day took 
it in his hand and stuck it into the earth in the garden ; and 
then it sprouted and bloomed and brought forth almonds, and 
when he saw that, he proved every one who sought one of his 
daughters by that tree.' " These are the words of the Book 
Midrash Vajoscha, and thereby may be seen that the staff of 
Adam was of almond wood ; but Yalkut Chadasch, under the 
title " Adam," says that the staff was of the wood of the Tree 
of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. 1 

When Adam and Eve were driven out of the garden, says 
the Talmud, they wandered disconsolate over the face of the 
earth. And the sun began to decline, and they looked with 

1 Eisenmenger, i. pp. 377-80. 



v.] ADAM AND EVE AFTER THE FALL. 51 

fear at the diminution of the light, and felt a horror like death 
steal over their hearts. 

And the light of heaven grew paler, and the wretched ones 
clasped one another in an agony of despair. 

Then all grew dark. 

And the luckless ones fell on the earth, silent, and thought 
that God had withdrawn from them the light for ever ; and 
they spent the night in tears. 

But a beam of light began to rise over the eastern hills, af- 
ter many hours of darkness, and the clouds blushed crimson, 
and the golden sun came back, and dried the tears of Adam 
and Eve ; and then they greeted it with cries of gladness, and 
said, " Heaviness may endure for a flight \ but joy cometh in the 
morning; this is a law that God has laid upon nature." l 

Among the Manichean myths prevalent among the Albi- 
genses, was one preserved to us by the troubadour Pierre de- 
Saint-Cloud. When Adam was driven out of Paradise, God 
in mercy gave him a miraculous rod, which possessed creative 
powers, so that he had only to strike the sea with it and it 
would forthwith produce the beast he might require. 

Adam struck the sea, and there rose from it the sheep ; 
then Eve took the staff and smote the water, and from it sprang 
the wolf, which fell on the sheep and carried it off into the 
wood. Then Adam took back the staff, and with it called 
forth the dog to hunt the wolf and recover the sheep. 

According to the Mussulman tradition, Adam's beard grew 
after he had fallen, and it was the result of his excessive grief 
and penitence : how this affected his chin is not explained, the 
fact only is thus boldly stated. He was sorely abashed at his 
beard, but a voice from heaven called to him, saying, " The 
beard is man's ornament on earth ; it distinguishes him from the 
feeble woman." Adam shed so many tears that all birds and 
beasts drank of them, and flowing into the earth they produced 
the fragrant plants and gum-bearing trees, for they were still 
endued with the strength and virtue of the food of Paradise. 

But the tears of Eve were transformed into pearls where 
they dribbled into the sea, and into beautiful flowers where 
they sank into the soil. 

Both wailed so loud that Eve's cry reached Adam on the 
West wind, and Adam's cry was borne to Eve on the wings of 

1 Talmud, Avoda Sara, fol. 8 a, and in Levy, Parabeln, p. 300. 



j2 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [V, 

the East wind. And when Eve heard the well-known voice 
she clasped her hands above her head, and women to this day 
thus testify their sorrow ; and Adam, when the voice of the 
weeping of Eve sounded in his ears, put his right hand beneath 
his beard,— thus do men to this day give evidence of their 
mourning. And the tears pouring out of Adam's eyes formed 
the two rivers Tigris and Euphrates. All nature wept with 
him ; every bird and beast hastened to him to mingle their 
tears with his, but the locust was the first to arrive, for it was 
made of the superfluous earth which fc ad been gathered for 
the creation of Adam. There are seven thousand kinds of 
locusts or grasshoppers, of all colors and sizes, up to the di- 
mensions of an eagle ; and they have a king to whom God ad- 
dresses His commands when He would punish a rebellious na- 
tion such as that of Egypt. The black character imprinted 
on the locust's wing is Hebrew, and it signifies, " God is One ;. 
He overcometh the mighty ; the locusts are a portion of His 
army which He sends against the wicked. ,, As all nature thus 
wailed and lamented, from the invisible insect to the angel 
who upholds the world, God sent Gabriel with the words which 
were in after-time to save Jonah in the whale's belly, " There 
is no God but Thou ; pardon me for Mohammed's sake, that 
great and last prophet, whose name is engraved on Thy throne." 

When Adam had uttered these words with penitent heart, 
the gates of heaven opened, and Gabriel cried out, " God has 
accepted thy penitence, Adam ! pray to him alone, He will 
give thee what thou desirest, even the return to Paradise, after 
a certain time." 

Adam prayed, " Lord, protect me from the further malice 
of my enemy Eblis." 

" Speak the word, There is no God but God ; that wounds 
him like a poisoned arrow." 

" Lord, will not the meat and drink provided by this earth 
lead me into sin ? " 

" Drink water, and eat only clean beasts which have been 
slain in the name of Allah, and build mosques where you dwell,, 
so will Eblis have no power over you." 

"But if he torment me at night with evil thoughts and 
dreams?" 

"Then rise from thy couch and pray." 

" Lord, how shall I be able to distinguish between good and 
evil?" 



Y.] ADAM AND EVE AFTER THE FALL. 53 

" My guidance will be with thee ; and two angels will dwell 
in thy heart, who shall warn thee against evil and encourage 
thee to good." 

"Lord, assure me Thy grace against sin." 

"That can only be obtained by good works. But this I 
promise thee, evil shall be punished one-fold, good shall be 
rewarded tenfold." 

In the meanwhile the angel Michael had been sent to Eve 
to announce to her God's mercy. When Eve saw him, she 
exclaimed, "O great and almighty Archangel of God, with 
what weapon shall I, poor frail creature, fight against sin ? " 

" God," answered the Angel, " has given me for thee, the 
most potent weapon of modesty ; that, as man is armed with 
faith, so mayest thou be armed with shamefacedness, there- 
with to conquer thy passions." 

" And what will protect me against the strength of man, 
so much more robust and vigorous than I, in mind and in 
body?" 

"Love and compassion," answered Michael. "I have 
placed these in the deepest recesses of his heart, as mighty 
advocates within him to plead for thee." 

" And will God give me no further gift ? " 

" For the pangs of maternity thou shalt feel, this shall be 
thine, death in child-bearing shall be reckoned in heaven as a 
death of martyrdom." 1 

Eblis, seeing the mercy shown to Adam and Eve, ventured 
to entreat God's grace for himself, and obtained that he should 
not be enchained in the place of torment till the day of the 
general Resurrection, and that he should exercise sovereignty 
over the wicked and all those who should reject God's word 
in this life. 

"And where shall I dwell till the consummation of all 
things ? " he asked of Allah. 

" In ruined buildings, and in tombs, and in dens and caves 
of the mountains." 

" And what shall be my nourishment ? " 

"All beasts slain in the name of false gods and idols." 

" And how shall I slake my thirst ? " 

"In wine and other spirituous liquors." 

1 It is a popular superstition among the lower orders in England 
that a woman who dies in childbirth, even if she be unmarried, cannot be 
lost. 



j4 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [v. 

" And how shall I occupy myself in hours of idleness ? " 

" In music, dancing, and song." 

" What is the word of my sentence ? " 

"The curse of God till the Judgment-day." 

" And how shall I fight against those men who have re- 
ceived Thy revelation, and are protected by the two angels?" 

"Thy offspring shall be more numerous than theirs: to 
every man born into this world, there will be born seven evil 
spirits, who, however, will be powerless to injure true Be- 
lievers." 

God then made a covenant with Adam's successors ; He 
rubbed Adam's back, and lo ! from out of his back crawled 
all generations of men that were to be born, about the size of 
ants, and they ranged themselves on the left and on the right. 
At the head of those on the right stood Mohammed, then the 
other prophets and the faithful, distinguished from those on 
the left by their white and dazzling splendor. Those on the 
left were headed by Kabil (Cain). 

God then acquainted Adam with the names and fate of all 
his posterity ; and when the recital arrived at David, to whom 
God had allotted only thirty years, Adam asked God, " How 
many years are accorded to me ? " 

Allah replied, " One thousand." 

Then said Adam, " I make a present to David of seventy 
years out of my life." God consented ; and knowing the short- 
ness of Adam's memory, at all events in matters concerning 
himself inconveniently, He made the angels bring a formal 
document of resignation engrossed on parchment, and required 
Adam to subscribe thereto his name, and Michael and Gabriel 
to countersign it as witnesses. 

A very similar tradition was held by the Jews, for in Mid- 
rash Jalkut (fol. 12) it is said : God showed Adam all future 
generations of men, with their captains, learned and literary 
men. Then he saw that David was provided with only three 
hours of life, and he said, "Lord and Creator of the world, is 
this unalterable?" "Such was my first intention," was the 
reply. 

" How many years have I to live?" 

" A thousand." 

" And is there such a thing known in heaven as making 
presents?" 

"Most certainly." 



V.J ADAM AND EVE AFTER THE FALL. 55 

"Then I present seventy years of my life to David." 

And what did Adam next perform ? He drew up a legal 
document of transfer, and sealed it with his own seal, and God 
and Metatron did likewise. 

To return to the Mussulman legend. 

When all the posterity of Adam were assembled, God ex- 
claimed to them, " Acknowledge that I am the only God, and 
that Mohammed is my prophet." The company on the right 
eagerly made this acknowledgment; those, however, on the 
left long hesitated, — some said only the former portion of the 
sentence, and others did not open their mouths. 

"The disobedient," said Allah to Adam, "shall, if they re- 
main obstinate, be cast into hell, but the true believers shall 
be received into Paradise." 

" So be it," replied Adam. And thus shall it be at the end 
of the world. 

After the covenant, Allah rubbed Adam's back once more, 
and all his little posterity retreated into it again. 

When now God withdrew His presence from Adam's sight 
for the remainder of our first parents' life, Adam uttered such 
a loud and bitter cry that the whole earth quaked. 

The All-merciful was filled with compassion, and bade him 
follow a cloud which would conduct him to a spot where he 
would be directly opposite His throne, and there he was to 
build a temple. 

" Go about this temple," said Allah, " and I am as near to 
you as the angels who surround my throne." Adam, who was 
still the size that God had created him, easily strode from Cey- 
lon to Mecca after the cloud, which stood over the place where 
he was to build. On Mount Arafa, near Mecca, to his great 
delight, he found Eve again, and from this circumstance the 
mountain takes its name (from Arafa, to recognize, to know 
again). They both began to build, and erected a temple hav- 
ing four doors — one was called Adam's door, another Abra- 
ham's door, the third Ishmael's door, and the fourth Moham- 
med's door. The plan of the temple was furnished by Gabriel, 
who also contributed a precious stone, but this stone afterwards, 
through the sin of men, turned black. This black stone is the 
most sacred Kaaba, and it was originally an angel, whose duty 
it had been to guard the Wheat-Tree of the knowledge of good 
and evil, and to warn off Adam should he approach it. But 
though his inattention the design of God was frustrated, and in 



5 6 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [V. 

punishment he was transformed into a stone, and he will not 
be released from his transformation till the Last Day. 

Gabriel taught Adam also all the ceremonies of the great 
pilgrimage. 

Adam now returned with his wife to India, and lived there till 
he died, but every year he made a pilgrimage to Mecca, till he lost 
his primitive size, and retained only the height of sixty eels. 

The cause of his diminution in height was his horror and 
dismay at the murder of Abel, which made him shrink into 
himself, and he was never afterwards able to stretch himself out 
again to his pristine dimensions. 1 

The Book of the Penitence of Adam is a curious apocryphal 
work of Syriac origin ; I give an outline of its contents. 

God planted, on the third day, the Terrestrial Paradise ; it is 
bounded on the east by the ocean in which, at the Last Day, 
the elect will wash away all those sins which have not as yet 
been purged away by repentance. 

On leaving this garden of delights, Adam turned to take of 
it one last look. He saw that the Tree which had caused his 
fall was cursed and had withered away. 

He was much surprised when night overtook him, for in 
Paradise he had not known darkness. As he went along his 
way, shedding tears, he overtook the serpent gliding over the 
ground, and licking the dust. That serpent he had last seen 
on four feet, very beautiful, with the hair of a young maiden, 
enamelled with brilliant colors. Now it was vile, hideous, and 
grovelling. The beasts which, before the Fall, had coveted its 
society, fled from it now with loathing. 

Filled with rage at the sight of Adam and Eve, to whom it 
attributed its present degradation, the serpent flew at them and 
prostrated them. Thereupon God removed from it its sole re- 
maining possession — the gift of speech, and it was left only its 
hiss of rage and shame. 

Adam soon felt exhaustion, heat, fear and pain ; — afflictions 
he had not known in Eden. As the shadows of night fell, an 
intense horror overwhelmed the guilty pair; they trembled in 
every limb and cried to God. The Almighty, in compassion, 
consoled them by announcing to them that day would return 
after twelve hours of night. They were relieved by this prom- 
ise, and they spent the first night in prayer. 

But Satan, who never lost sight of them, fearing lest theii 

' V\cll f pp. 29-38. 



y.] ADAM AND EVE AFTER THE FALL. 57 

prayers should wholly appease the divine justice, assembled his 
host of evil angels, surrounded himself with a brilliant light, 
and stood at the entrance of the cave where the banished ones 
prayed. He hoped that Adam would mistake him for God, 
and prostrate himself before him. 

But Adam said to Eve : " Observe this great light and this 
multitude of spirits. If it were God who sent them, they 
would enter and tell us their message." Adam did not know 
then that Satan cannot approach those who pray. Then Adam 
addressed himself to God and said, " O my God ! is there an- 
other God but Thou, who can create angels and send them to 
us ? Lord, deign to instruct us ! " 

Then a heavenly angel entered the cavern and said, 
" Adam, fear not those whom you see ; it is Satan and his 
host. He sought to seduce you again to your fall." 

Having thus spoken, the angel fell upon Satan and tore 
from off him his disguise, and exposed him in his hideous 
nakedness to Adam and Eve. And to console them for this 
trial, God sent Adam gold rings, incense and myrrh, and said 
to him, " Preserve these things, and they will give you at night 
light and fragrance ; and when I shall come down on earth to 
save you, clothed in human flesh, kings shall bring me these 
three tokens." 

It is because of this present that the cavern into which 
Adam and Eve retreated has been called the Treasure-cave. 

Adam and Eve, greatly cheered, blessed the Lord, and 
thanked him for his goodness, and resolved to continue their 
repentance. 

A short time after they committed a fault. Satan present- 
ed himself to them under the form of an angel of light, and an- 
nounced that he was commissioned by the Most High to lead 
them to the brink of the River of the Water of Life, into which 
they were to plunge and wash away their sin. 

They believed, and followed him by a strange road, and he 
led them to the edge of a precipice, down which he endeav- 
ored to fling them ; for, he thought, were he to destroy the man 
and the woman, he would be supreme in the world God had 
made. But the Almighty rescued Adam and Eve, and drave 
Satan from them. 

To punish themselves for their involuntary fault, Adam and 
Eve separated, so as not to see one another, and resolve to 
spend forty days up to their necks in the sea. 

3* 



S 8 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [v 

Before parting, Adam said to his wife, " Remain in the wa- 
ter here, and do not quit it till I return, and spend your time 
in praying the Lord to pardon us." 

Now, whilst they were undergoing this penance, Satan cast 
about how he might bring to naught our first parents, and he 
•sought them but could not find them, till on the thirty-fifth day 
of their penance he perceived the two heads above the water ; 
then he knew at once what was their intention, and he resolved 
to frustrate it. So he took upon him the form of an angel of 
Heaven, and flew over the sea singing praises to God ; and 
when he came to the place where Eve was, he cried, " Joy, joy 
to thee ! God is with thee, and he has sent me to bring thee 
to Adam to announce to him that he has found favor with the 
Most High." 

Eve instantly scrambled out of the water, and followed Sa- 
tan to Adam, and the Evil One placed her before her hus- 
band, and vanished. When Adam saw his wife, he was filled 
with dismay, and beat his breast and wept. When she told 
him why she was there, he knew that the great Enemy had 
been again at his work of deception, and he fell into despair. 
But a voice from Heaven bade him return with Eve to the 
Treasure- cave. 

Hunger, thirst, cold, and prayer had completely exhausted 
the pair, and Adam cried to the Lord, " O God, my Creator ! 
Thou hast given me reason and an enlightened heart. When 
Thou didst forbid me to eat of the fruit of the Tree, Eve was 
not yet made, and she did not hear Thy command ; in Eden 
we hungered not, nor felt thirst or pain or fatigue. All this 
have we lost. And now we dare not touch the fruit of the trees 
or drink of water without Thy command. Our bodies are ex- 
hausted, our strength is gone ; grant us wherewith to satisfy 
our hunger, and to quench our thirst." 

God ordered the Cherubim who kept the gate of Eden, to 
carry to Adam two figs from the tree under which our first pa- 
rents had concealed themselves after the Fall. 

"Take," said the Cherubim, presenting the figs to them, 
"take the fruit of the tree whose leaves covered your shame." 

" Oh ! " cried Adam, " may God grant us some of the fruit 
of the Tree of Life." 

But God answered, " I will give unto you this fruit and liv- 
ing water, to you and to your descendants, on that day that I 
shall descend into the abode of death and shall break the 



Y.] ADAM AND EVE AFTER THE FALL. 59 

gates of iron in sunder, to bring you forth into my garden of 
pleasures. That which you ask of Me shall take place at the 
expiration of five long days and a half (/. e. 5,500 years), after 
that my blood has flowed upon thy head, O Adam, upon Gol- 
gotha." 

Adam and Eve took the figs, which were very heavy, for the 
fruits of the earthly paradise were much larger than the fruit 
of this outer world in which we live. And when they were 
about to enter into the Cave of Treasures, they saw there a 
great fire ; this mightily astonished them, for as yet they had 
not seen fire except in the flaming sword of the Cherub. Now 
this fire which surprised them was the work of Satan ; he had 
collected branches and had fired them in the hope of burning 
down the cavern and driving Adam to despair. 

The fire lasted till the morrow ; Satan, without showing 
himself, keeping it supplied with fresh fuel. Adam and Eve 
did not venture to approach, but recommended themselves to 
God ; and the Evil One, finding that his plan had failed, let 
the fire die out and departed. 

Adam and Eve slept the following night at the foot of a 
mountain near their lost Eden. Satan beholding them, said, 
" God has made a compact with Adam, whom he desires to 
save, but I will slay him, and the earth shall be mine." 

He therefore summoned his attendant angels, and they dis- 
lodged a huge rock from the mountain and hurled it upon the 
sleepers. But as this mass was bounding down the flank of 
the mountain, and was in mid-air in one of its leaps, God ar- 
rested it above the heads of the sleepers, and it sheltered them 
from the dews of night. 

Adam and Eve awoke greatly troubled by their dreams, and 
they asked of God garments to cover their naked bodies, for 
they suffered from the scorching sun by day, and the frost by 
night. God replied, " Go to the shore of the sea ; you will 
there find the skins of sheep which have been devoured by 
lions : of them make to yourselves raiment." 

Satan heard the words of God, and he outran our first pa- 
rents, that he might secure the skins and destroyed them, in the 
hopes that Adam and Eve, finding no hides, would doubt God 
and think that he had failed in His word. But God fastened Sa- 
tan in his naked hideousness beside the skins, immovable, till 
Adam and Eve arrived, when he addressed them in these 
terms : " Behold him who has seduced you ; see what has be- 



<So OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. fr. 

come of his beauty. After having made you such promises, 
he was about to rob you of these hides." Adam and Eve took 
the skins and made of them garments. A few days after, God 
said to them, " Go to the west till you arrive at a black land ; 
there you will find food." They obeyed, and they saw corn 
full ripe, and God inspired Adam with knowledge how to make 
bread. But not having sickles they tore the corn up by the 
roots, and having made a rick of it, they slept, expecting to 
thrash it out and grind it on the morrow. But Satan fired this 
rick and reduced their harvest to ashes. 

Whilst they wept and lamented, Satan came to them as an 
angel, and said, "This is the work of your Enemy the Fiend, 
but God has sent me to bring you into a field where you will 
find better corn." 

They followed him, nothing doubting, and he led them for 
eight days, and they fainted with exhaustion and were foot-sore. 
Then he left them in an unknown land ; but God was their 
protector, He brought them back to their harvest and restored 
their rick of corn, and they made bread and offered to God the 
first sacrifice. 1 

But enough of this apocryphal work, which contains a 
string of absurd tricks played by Satan on our first parents, 
which are invariably defeated by God ; of these the specimens 
given above are sufficient. 

A curious legend exists among the Sclavonic nations by 
which the existence of elves is accounted for. It is said that 
Adam had by his wife Eve, thirty sons and thirty daughters. 
God asked him, one day, the number of his children. Adam 
was ashamed of having so many girls, so he answered, " Thirty 
sons and twenty-seven daughters." But from the eye of God 
nothing can be concealed, and He took from among Adam's 
daughters the three fairest, and He made them Willis, or 
elves; they were good and holy, and therefore did not perish 
in the Deluge, but entered with Noah into the ark and were 
saved. 

The story of Adam's penitence, as told by Tabari, is as 
follows : — 

The moment that Adam fell out of Paradise and touched 
the ground on the mountains in the centre of Ceylon, he un- 
derstood in all its magnitude the greatness of his loss and his 

1 Dillman, Das Adambuch des Morgenlandes ; Gottingen, 1853. This 
book is not to be confounded with the Testament of Adam. 



v.] ADAM AND EVE AFTER THE FALL. 6 1 

-sin. He remained stupefied with his face on the earth, and 
did not raise it, but allowed his tears to flow upon and soak 
into the soil. For a hundred years he remained in this posi- 
tion, and his tears formed a stream which rolled down the 
mountain, which still flows from Adam's Peak in the island 
of Ceylon, and gives their virtue to the healing plants and 
fragrant trees which there flourish, and are exported for me- 
dicinal purposes. 

When a hundred years had elapsed, God had compassion 
on Adam, and sent Gabriel to him, who said, " God salutes 
thee, O Adam ! and He bids me say to thee, Did I not create 
thee out of the earth by My will ? Did I not give thee Para- 
dise to be thine abode ? Why these tears and sighs ? " 

Adam replied, " How shall I not weep, and how shall I 
abstain from sighing ? Have I not lost the protection of God, 
and have I not disobeyed His will ?" 

Gabriel said, " Do not afflict thyself. Recite the words I 
shall teach thee, and God will grant thee repentance which He 
will accept," as it is written in the Koran, " Adam learnt of 
His Lord words j and the Lord returned to Him, for He is 
merciful, and He returns." Adam recited these words, and in 
the joy he felt at the .prospect of finding mercy, he wept, and 
his joyous tears watered the earth, and from them sprang up 
the narcissus and the ox-eye. 

Then said Adam to Gabriel, " What shall I now do ? " 

And Gabriel gave to Adam wheat-grains from out of Para- 
dise, the fruit of the Forbidden Tree, and he bade him sow it, 
and he said. " This shall be thy food in future." 

Afterwards, Gabriel taught Adam to draw iron out of the 
rock and to make instruments of husbandry. And all that 
Adam sowed sprang up in the self-same hour that it was sown, 
for the blessing of God was upon it. And Adam reaped and 
thrashed and winnowed. Then Gabriel bade him take two 
stones from the mountain, and he taught him with them to 
grind the corn ; and when he had made flour, he said to the 
angel, " Shall I eat now ? " But Gabriel answered, " Not so ; " 
and he showed him how to build an oven of iron. It was 
from this oven that the water of the deluge at Koufa flowed. 
He taught him also to make dough and to bake. 

But Adam was hungry, and he said, " Let me eat now," and 
the angel stayed him, and answered, " Tarry till the bread be 
cold and stale," but he would not, but ate. Therefore he 



62 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [v. 

suffered from pain in his belly. Next, Gabriel by the com- 
mand of Allah brought out of Eden the ox and fruit ; of these 
latter there were ten kinds whose exterior was edible, but 
whose insides were useless to eat, such as the apricot, the 
peach and the date. And there w T ere three that could not be 
eaten anyhow. Then he brought ten more whose insides and 
outsides might be eaten, such as the grape, the fig, and the 
apple. Said Gabriel to Adam, " Sow these," and he sowed 
them. These are the trees that the angel brought out of Par- 
adise. 

Now Adam was all alone on the peak in the midst of Cey- 
lon, and his head was in the first heaven. The sun burnt 
him, so that all his hair fell off; and God, in compassion, bade 
Gabriel pass his wing over Adam's head, and Adam there- 
upon shrank to the height of sixty cubits. And then he could 
no longer hear the voices of the angels in heaven, and he was 
sore distressed. 

Then God said to him, " T have made this world thy prison, 
but I send to thee out of heaven a house of rubies, in order 
that thou mayest enter in and walk round it, and therein find 
repose for thy heart." 

Thereupon out of heaven descended " the visited house," 
and it was placed where now stands the temple of Mecca. 
The black stone which is there was originally white and shin- 
ing. It was placed in the ruby house. Whosoever looked in 
that direction from ten parasangs off, could see the light of that 
house shining like a fire up to the heaven, and in the midst of 
that red light shone the white stone like a star. 

Afterwards, Gabriel conducted Adam to that house that 
he might go in procession round it. All the places where his 
foot was planted became verdant oases, with rivers of water 
and many flowers and trees, but all the tract between was 
barren. 

Gabriel taught Adam how to make the pilgrimage ; and if 
any one now goes there without knowing the ceremonies, he 
needs a guide. 

Then Adam met with Eve again, and they rejoiced together ; 
and she went back with him to Ceylon. Now at that time 
there was in the world no other pair than Adam and Eve, and 
no other house than the mansion of rubies. 

Now Eblis had made his prayer to Allah that he might be 
allowed to live till Israfiel should sound the last trumpet. 



V.] ADAM AND EVE AFTER THE FALL, 63 

And he asked this, because those who are alive when that 
trumpet sounds, shall not die any more, for Death will be 
brought in, in the shape of a sheep, and will be slaughtered ; 
and when Death is slaughtered, no one will be able to die. 

And God said, " I give thee the time till all creatures must 
die" 

Then Eblis said, " Just as Thou didst turn me out of the 
right way, so shall I pervert those whom Thou hast made " 
Satan went to man and said to him, " God has driven me out 
of Paradise, never to return there, and He has taken from me 
the sovereignty of this world to give it to thee. Why should 
we not be friends and associate together, and I can advise thee 
on thy concerns ?" 

And Adam thought to himself, " I must be the companion 
of this one, but I will make use of him." So he suffered him 
to be his comrade. 

The first act of treachery he did was this. 

Every child Adam had by Eve died when born. Eve be- 
came pregnant for the fourth time, and Eblis said to Adam, 
U I believe this child will be good-looking and will live." 

" I am of the same opinion," answered Adam. 

" If my prophecy turns out right," said the Evil One, "give 
the child to me." 

" I will give it," said Adam. 

Now the child, when born, was very fair to look upon, and 
Adam^ though he repented of his rash promise, did not venture 
to break his word ■ so he gave the child to Eblis, that is to say, 
he named it Abd-el-Hareth, or Servant of Hareth, instead of 
Abd- Allah, Servant of God. And after living two years it 
died. 1 

Thus Satan became an associate in the affairs of man. 

But others tell the conclusion of the story somewhat differ- 
ently. They say that the child Abd-el-Hareth became the 
progenitor of the whole race of Satyrs, nightmares, and hob- 
goblins. 

Maimonides says that the Sabians attribute to Adam the 
introduction of the worship of the moon, on which account 
they call him the prophet or apostle of the moon. 2 

A large number of books are attributed to Adam. The 

1 Tabari, i., capp. xxviii. xxix. 

* In More Nevochim, quoted by Fabricius, i. p. 5. 



6 4 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [y. 

passage in Genesis, This is the Book of the generations of Adam? 
led many to suppose that Moses quoted from a book written 
by our first parent. That such an apocryphal book did exist 
in after-times, appears* from the fact of Pope Gelasius in his 
decrees rejecting it as spurious. He speaks of it as " the book 
which is called the Book of the generations of Adam or Gene- 
seos." And the Rabbis say that this book was written by 
Adam, after he had seen all his posterity brought out before 
him, as already related. And this book, they say, Adam gave 
to Enoch. 2 

Beside this, there existed an Apocalypse of Adam, which 
is mentioned by S. Epiphanius, who quotes a passage from it, 
in which Adam describes the Tree of Life, which produced 
twelve kinds of fruit every year. 3 And George Syncellus, in 
his Chronicle, extracts a portion of an apocryphal Life of Adam. 

Amongst the Revelations of S. Amadeus are found two 
psalms, which, in vision, he heard had been composed by Adam. 
One was on the production of Eve, the other is a hymn of re- 
pentance, a joint composition of the two outcasts. It runs as 
follows : — 

Adam. — " Adonai, my Lord God, have mercy upon me for 
Thy great goodness, and according to the multitude of Thy 
mercies do away my transgressions. I am bowed down with 
trouble, Thy waves and storms have gone over me. Deliver 
me, O God, and save me from the flood of many waters. Hear 
my words, O Heavens, and all ye that dwell in them. May 
the angels bear up all my thoughts and words to Thee, and 
may the celestial virtues declare them. May the Lord bend 
His compassionate ear to my lowly petition. May He hear 
my prayer, and let the cry of my heart reach Him. Thou, O 
God, art the true and most brilliant light; all other lights are 
mingled with darkness. Thou art the sun that knowest no 
down-setting, that dwellest in inaccessible light. Thou art 
the end to which all flesh come. Thou art the only satisfac- 
tion of all the blessed." 

Eve. — " Adonai, Lord God, have mercy upon me for Thy 
great goodness, and for the multitude of Thy mercies do away 
my transgressions. Thou before all things didst create the im- 
movable heaven as a holy and exalted home, and Thou didst 
adorn it with angel spirits, to whom Thou didst in goodness 

1 Gen v. i. * Fabricius, i. p. II. 3 Adv. Haeresi, c. 5. 



v.] ADAM AND EVE AFTER THE FALL. 65 

declare thy purposes. They were the bright morning stars 
who sang to Thee through ages of ages. Thou didst form 
the movable heaven and Thou didst set in it the watery clouds. 
Those waters are under the immovable heaven, and are above 
all that live and move. Thou didst create the light ; the beau- 
teous sun, the moon with the five planets didst Thou place in 
the midst, and didst fix the signs and constellations. Thou 
didst produce four elements, and didst kindle all with Thy 
wisdom." 

Adam. — " Adonai, Lord God, have mercy upon me for Thy 
great goodness, and for the multitude of Thy mercies do away 
my transgressions. Thou hast cast out the proud and rebel 
dragon with Thy mighty arm. Thou hast put down the 
mighty from their seat and hast exalted the humble and 
meek. Thou hast filled the hungry with good things, and the 
rich Thou hast sent empty away. Thou didst fashion me in 
Thine own image of the dust of earth, and destine me, mortal, 
to be immortal ; and me, frail, to endure. Thou didst lead me 
into the place of life and joy, and didst surround me with all 
good things; Thou didst put all things under my feet, and 
didst reveal to me Thy great name, Adonai. Thou didst give 
me Eve, to be a help meet for me, whom Thou didst draw from 
my side." 

Adam. — " Adonai, Lord and God, have mercy upon me for 
Thy great goodness, and for the* multitude of Thy mercies do 
away my transgressions ; for Thou hast made me the head of 
all men. Thou hast inspired me and my consort with Thy 
wisdom, and hast given us a free will and placed our lot in 
our own hands. But thou hast given us precepts and laws, 
and hast placed life and death before us that we might keep 
Thy commandments, and in keeping them find life ; but if we 
keep them not, we shall die. Lucifer, the envious one, saw and 
envied. He fought against us and prevailed. Conquered by 
angels, he conquered man, and subjugated all his race. I 
have sinned. I am he who have committed iniquity. If I 
had refused in my free will, neither Eve nor the Enemy could 
have obtained my destruction But being in honor I had no 
understanding and I lost my dignity. I am like to the cattle, 
the horse, and the mule, which have no understanding." 

Eve. — " Adonai, Lord and God, have mercy upon me for 
Thy great goodness, and for the multitude of Thy mercies do 
away mine offences. Great is our God, and great is His mer- 



66 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [v 

cy ; His goodness is unmeasured. He will supply the remedy 
to our sin, that if we will to rise, we may be able to arise ; 
He has appointed His Son, the gloriner of all, and our Re- 
deemer ; and He has appointed the Holy Mother to be our 
mediatrix, in whose image He has built me, Eve, the mother 
of all flesh. He has fashioned the Mother after the likeness 
of her daughter. He has made the father after the image and 
likeness of His Son ; and He will blot out our transgressions 
for His merits, if we yield our wills thereto, and receive His 
sacraments. He will receive a free-will offering, and He will 
not despise a contrite heart. To those going towards Him, He 
will fly with welcome, He will pardon their offences and will 
crown them with glory." 

Adam, — " Adonai, Lord and God, have mercy upon me for 
Thy great goodness, and for the multitude of Thy mercies do 
away mine offences. O God, great is the abundance of Thy 
sweetness. Blessed are all they that hope in Thee. After the 
darkness Thou bringest in the light ; and pain is converted 
into joy. Thou repayest a thousand for a hundred, and for a 
thousand thou givest ten thousand. For the least things, Thou 
rewardest with the greatest things ; and for temporal joys, Thou 
givest those that are eternal. Blessed are they that keep Thy 
statutes, and bend their necks to Thy yoke. They shall dwell 
in Thy Tabernacle and rest upon Thy holy hill. They shall be 
denizens of Thy courts with Thee, whose roots shine above 
gold and precious stones. Blessed are they who believe in the 
triune God, and will to know His ways. We all sing, Glory to 
the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, and we 
magnify our God. As in the beginning the angels sang, so 
shall we now and ever, and in ages of ages. Amen." 1 

Manasseh Ben-Israel has preserved a prophecy of Adam, 
that the world is to last seven thousand years. He says this 
secret was handed down from Adam to Enoch, and from Enoch 
to Noah, and from Noah to Shem. 2 

At Hebron is a cave, " which," says an old traveller. 
"Christians and Turks point out as having been the place 
where Adam and Eve bewailed their sins for a hundred years. 
This spot is towards the west, in a valley, about a hundred 
paces from the Damascene field ; it is a dark grotto, not very 

1 Eusebius Nierembergius, De Origine S. Scripturae. Lugd., 1 641. 

2 Fabricius, i. p. 33. 



V.] ADAM AND EVE AFTER THE FALL. 6f 

long or broad, very low, in a hard rock, and not apparently 
artificial, but natural. This valley is called La valle de* La- 
grime, the Vale of Tears, as they shed such copious tears over 
their transgressions." ' 

Abu Mohammed Mustapha Ben-Alschit Hasen, in his Uni- 
versal History, says that Adam's garment of fig-leaves, in which 
he went out of Eden, was left by him, when he fell, on Adam's 
Peak in Ceylon. There it dried to dust, and the dust was 
scattered by the wind over the island, and from this sprang 
the odoriferous plants which grow there. 2 

Adam is said to have not gone altogether empty-handed 
out of Paradise. Hottinger, in his Oriental History, quoting 
Jewish authorities, says : " Adam having gone into the land of 
Babel, took with him many wonderful things, amongst others 
a tree with flowers, leaves and branches of gold, also a stone 
tree, also the leaves of a tree so strong that they were incon- 
sumable in fire, and so large as to be able to shelter under 
them ten thousand men of the stature of Adam ; and he car- 
ried about with him two of these leaves, of which one would 
shelter two men or clothe them." 3 Of these trees we read in 
the Gemara that the Rabbi Canaan asked of the Rabbi Simon, 
son of Assa, who had gone to see them, whether this was true. 
He was told in reply that it was so, and that at the time of the 
Captivity the Jews had seated themselves under these trees, 
and in their shadow had found consolation. 

But Palestine seems also to have possessed some of the trees 
of Adam's planting, for Jacob Vitriacus in his Jewish History 
says : "There are in that land wonderful trees, which for their 
pre-excellence are called Apples of Paradise, bearing oblong 
fruit, very sweet and unctuous, having a most delicious savor, 
bearing in one cluster more than a hundred compressed ber- 
ries. The leaves of this tree are a cubit long and half a cubit 
wide. There are three other trees producing beautiful apples 
or citrons, in which the bite of a man's teeth is naturally mani- 
fest, wherefore they are called Adam's Apples." 4 Hottinger 
says that at Tripoli grows a tree called Almaus, or Adams ap- 
ple, with a green head, and leaves like outspread fingers, no 
branches, but only leaves, and with a fruit like a bean-pod, of 

1 Ferdinand de Troilo, Orientale Itinerario. Dresd., 1667, p. 323. 

2 Selden, De Synedriis, ii. p. 452. 

3 Hottinger, Historia Orientalis, lib. i. c. 8. 

4 Jacobus Vitriacus, Hist. Hierosol., c. lxxxv. 



68 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [v. 

delicious flavor, and an odor of roses. Buntingius, in his 
Itinerary, describes an Adam's apple which he tasted at Alex- 
andria, and he said the taste was like pears, and the clusters 
-of prodigious size, with twenty in each cluster, like magnifi- 
cent bunches of grapes. But the most remarkable fact about 
them was that, if one of the fruit were cut with a knife, the figure 
of a crucifix was found to be contained in it. 1 And this tree was 
supposed to have been the forbidden tree, and the fruit to have 
thus brought hope as it also brought death to the eater. Ni- 
der, "In Formicario," also relates that this fruit, thus marked 
with the form of the Crucified, grows in Granada. 2 

"At Beyrut, of which S. Nicodemus was the first bishop," 
writes the Friar, Ignatius von Rheinfelden, "I saw a wonderful 
fruit which is called by the Arabs, Mauza, and by the Chris- 
tians Adam's fig. This fruit grows upon a trunk in clusters of 
fifty or more, and hangs down towards the ground on account 
of its weight. The fruit is in shape something like a cucumber, 
and is a span long, yellow, and tasting something like figs. 
The Christians of those parts say it is the fruit of which x\dam 
and Eve ate in Paradise, and they argue thus : first, there are 
no apples in those parts ; secondly, S. Jerome translated the 
word in the Bible, Mauza ; thirdly, if the fruit be cut, within it 
is seen the figure of a crucifix, and they conclude thereby that 
the first parents were showed by this figure how their sin 
would be atoned ; fourthly, the leaves being three ells long and 
half an ell wide, were admirably adapted to make skirts of, 
when Adam and Eve were conscious of their nakedness. And 
Holy Scripture says nothing of apples, but says merely — fruit. 
But whether this was the fruit or not, I leave others to de- 
cide." 3 

Adam is said by the Easterns to have received from Ra- 
phael a magic ring, which became his symbol, and which he 
handed down to his descendants selected to know and read mys- 
teries. This was no other than the '• crux ansata," or handled 
cross, so common on Egyptian monuments as the hieroglyph 
of Life out of death. The circle symbolized the apple, and 
thus the Carthusian emblem, which bears the motto " Stat crux 
dum volvitur orbis," is in reality the mystic symbol of Adam. 
" Which," says the Arabic philosopher, Ibn-ephi, " Mizraim re- 

1 As King Charles's Oak may be seen in the fern-root. 

2 Fabricius, i. p. 84. 

3 Neue Ierosolymitanische Pilgerfahrt. Wurtzburg, 1667, p. 47 



VI.] CAIN AND ABEL. 69 

ceived from Ham, and Ham from Noah, and Noah from Enoch, 
and Enoch from Seth, and Seth from Adam, and Adam from 
the angel Raphael. Ham wrought with it great marvels, and 
Hermes received it from him and placed it amongst the hiero- 
glyphics. But this character signifies the progress and motion 
of the Spirit of the world, and it was a magic seal, kept secret 
among their mysteries, and a ring constraining demons." * 



VI. 
CAIN AND ABEL. 

After that the child given to Satan died, says Tabari, Adam 
had another son, and he called him Seth, and Seth was prophet 
in the room of his father, after the death of Adam. 

Adam had many more children ; every time that Eve bore, 
she bare twins, whereof one was male, the other female, and 
the twins were given to one another as husband and wife. 

Now Adam sought to give to Abel the twin sister of Cain, 
when she was old enough to be married, but Cain (Kabil, in 
Arabic) was dissatisfied. 2 Adam said to the brothers, Cain 
and Abe], " Go, my sons, and sacrifice to the Lord ; and he 
whose sacrifice is accepted, shall have the young girl. Take 
each of you offerings in your hand and go, sacrifice to the Lord, 
and he shall decide." 

Abel was a shepherd, and he took the fattest of the sheep, 
and bore it to the place of sacrifice ; but Cain, who was a tiller 
of the soil, took a sheaf of corn, the poorest he could find, 
and placed it on the altar. Then fire descended from heaven 
and consumed the offering of Abel, so that not even the 
cinders remained ; but the sheaf of Cain was left untouched. 

Adam gave the maiden to Abel, and Cain was sore vexed. 

One day, Abel was asleep on a mountain. Cain took a 
stone and crushed his head. Then he threw the corpse on 
his back, and carried it about, not knowing what to do with 
it ; but he saw two crows fighting, and one killed the other ; 

1 Stephanus Le Moyne, Notse ad Varia Sacra, p. 863. 

2 Abulfeda, p. 15. In the Apocryphal book, The Combat of Adam 
{Dillman, Das Christliche Adambuch des Morgenlandes ; Gottingen, 
1853), the same reason for hostility is given. In that account, Satan ap- 
pears to Cain and prompts him to every act of wickedness. 



70 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [vi. 

then the crow that survived dug a hole in the earth with his 
beak, and buried the dead bird. Cain said, " I have not the 
sense of this bird. I too will lay my brother in the ground." 
And he did so. 

When Adam learned the death of his son, he set out in 
search of Cain, but could not find him ; then he recited the 
following lines : — 

" Every city is alike, each mortal man is vile, 
The face of earth has desert grown, the sky has ceased to smile, 
Every flower has lost its hue, and every gem is dim. 
Alas ! my son, my son is dead ; the brown earth swallows him ! 
We one have had in midst of us whom death has not yet found, 
No peace for him, no rest for him, treading the blood-drenched 
ground." l 

This is how the story is told in the Midrash : 2 Cain and 
Abel could not agree, for, what one had, the other wanted ; 
then Abel devised a scheme that they should make a division 
of property, and thus remove the possibility of contention. 
The proposition pleased Cain. So Cain took the earth, and all 
that is stationary, and Abel took all that is movable. 

But the envy which lay in the heart of Cain gave him no 
rest. One day he said to his brother, " Remove thy foot, thou 
standest on my property: the plain is mine." 

Then Abel ran upon the hills, but Cain cried, " Away, the 
hills are mine ! " Then he climbed the mountains, but still 
Cain followed him, calling, " Away ! the stony mountains are 
mine." 

In the Book of Jasher the cause of quarrel is differently 
stated. One day the flock of Abel ran over the ground Cain 
had been ploughing; Cain rushed furiously upon him and 
bade him leave the spot. " Not," said Abel, " till you have 
paid me for the skins of my sheep and wool of their fleeces 
used for your clothing." Then Cain took the coulter from his 
plough, and with it slew his brother. 3 

The Targum of Jerusalem says, the subject of contention 
was that Cain denied a Judgment to come and Eternal Life ; 
and Abel argued for both. 4 The Rabbi Menachem, however, 
asserts that the point on which they strove was whether a word- 
was written zizit or zizis in the Parascha. 6 

1 Tabari, i. c. xxx. 2 Jalkut, fol. II a. 8 Yaschar, p. 1089. 

4 Targums, ed. Etheridge, London, 1862, i. p. 172. 

5 Eisenmenger, i. p. 320. 



VI.] CAIN AND ABEL. 7I 

" And when they were in the field together, the brothers 
quarrelled, saying. ' Let us divide the world.' One said, 
* The earth you stand on is my sohY The other said, * You 
are standing on my earth.' One said, 'The Holy Temple 
shall stand on my lot ; ' the other said, c It shall stand on my 
lot.' So they quarrelled. Now there were born with Abel 
two daughters, his sisters. Then said Cain, ' I will take the 
one I choose, I am the eldest ; ' Abel said, ' They were born 
with me, and I will have them both to wife.' And when they 
fought, Abel flung Cain down and was above him ; and he lay 
on Cain. Then Cain said to Abel, ' Are we not both sons of 
one father ; why wilt thou kill me ? ' And Abel had compas- 
sion, and let Cain get up. And so Cain fell on him and killed 
him. From this we learn not to render good to the evil, for, 
because Abel showed mercy to Cain, Cain took advantage of 
it to slay Abel." x 

S. Methodius the Younger refers to this tradition. He 
says : " Be it known that Adam and Eve when they left Para- 
dise were virgins. But the third year after the expulsion from 
Eden, they had Cain, their first-born, and his sister Calmana ; 
and after this, next year, they had Abel and his sister De- 
borah. But in the three hundredth year of Adam's life, Cain 
slew his brother, and Adam and Eve wailed over him a hun- 
dred years." 2 

Eutychius, Patriarch of Alexandria, says, " When Adam 
and Eve rebelled against God, He expelled them from Para- 
dise at the ninth hour on Friday to a certain mountain in 
India, and He bade them produce children to increase and 
multiply upon the earth. Adam and Eve therefore became 
parents, first of a boy named Cain, and of a girl named Azrun, 
who were twins ; then of another boy named Abel, and of a 
twin sister named Owain, or in Greek Laphura. 

" Now, when the children were grown up, Adam said to 
Eve, ' Let Cain marry Owain, who was born with Abel, and 
let Abel have Azrun, who was born with Cain.' But Cain 
said to his mother, ' I will marry my own twin sister, and Abel 
shall marry his.' For Azrun was prettier than Owain. But 
when Adam heard this, he said, ' It is contrary to the precept 
that thou shouldst marry thy twin sister.' 

1 Liber Zenorena, quoted by Fabricius, i. p. 108. 
* S. Methodius, jun., Revelationes, c. 3. 



72 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS, [vx 

" Now Cain was a tiller of the ground, but Abel was a 
pastor of sheep. Adam said to them, ' Take of the fruits of 
the earth, and of the young of the sheep, and ascend the top 
of this holy mountain, and offer there the best and choicest 
to God.' Abel offered of the best and fattest of the first- 
born of the flock. Now as they were ascending the summit 
of the mountain, Satan put it into the head of Cain to kill 
his brother, so as to get Azrun. For that reason his obla- 
tion was not accepted by God. Therefore he was the more 
inflamed with rage against Abel, and as they were going 
down the mount, he rushed upon him and beat him about the 
head with a stone and killed him. Adam and Eve bewailed 
Abel a hundred years with the greatest grief. . . . And God 
cast out Cain whilst he was still unmarried into the land of 
Nod. But Cain carried off with him his sister Azrun." ! 

The Rabbi Zadok said, " This was the reason why Cain 
slew Abel. His twin sister and wife was not at all good-look- 
ing. Then he said, ( I will kill my brother Abel, and carry 
off his wife.' " 2 

Gregory Abulfaraj gives this account of the strife : "Ac- 
cording to the opinion of Mar Theodosius, thirty years after 
he was expelled from Paradise, Adam knew his wife Eve, 
and She bore twins, Cain and his sister Climia ; and after 
thirty more years she bore Abel and his twin sister Lebuda. 
Then, seventy years after when Adam wanted to marry one 
of the brothers with the twin sister of the other, Cain refused, 
asking to have his own twin sister." 3 

The Pseudo-Athanasius says, " Up to this time no man 
had died so that Cain should know how to kill. The devil 
instructed him in this in a dream." 4 

Leonhard Marius on Genesis iv. says, " As to what in- 
strument Cain used, Scripture is silent. Chrysostom calls it 
a sword ; Prudentius, a spade ; Irenaeus, an axe ; Isidore says 
simply, steel ; but artists generally paint a club, and Abulensis 
thinks he was killed with stones." Reuchlin thinks, as iron 
was not discovered till the times of Tubal-cain, the weapon 
must have been made of wood, and he points out how much 
more this completes the type of Christ. 5 

Cain and Abel had been born and had lived with Adam 

1 Eutychius, Patriarcha Alex., Annales. 2 Pirke R. Eliezer, c. xxi. 

3 Historia Dynastiarum, ed. Pocock ; Oxon. 1663, p. 4. 

4 Ad Antiochum, qusest. 56. 5 Fabricius, i. p. 1 12. 



VI.] CAIN AND ABEL. 73 

In the land of Adam ah ; but after Cain slew his brother, he 
was cast out into the land Erez, and wherever he went, 
swords sounded and flashed as though thirsting to smite him. 
And he fled that land and came to Acra, where he had 
children, and his descendants who live there to this day have 
two heads. 1 

Before Cain slew his brother, says the Targum of Jeru- 
salem, the earth brought forth fruits as the fruits of Eden ; 
but from the day that blood was spilt upon it, thistles and 
thorns sprang up \ for the face of earth grew sad, its joy was 
gone, the stain was on its brow. 

Abel's offering had been of the fattest of his sheep, the 
Targum adds, but Cain offered flax. 2 

Abel's offering, say certain Rabbis, was not perfect ; for he 
offered the chief part to God, but the remainder he dedicated 
to the Devil ; and Cain offered the chief part to Satan, and only 
the remainder to God. 3 

The Rabbi Johanan said, Cain exclaimed when accused by 
God of the murder, " My iniquity is greater than I can bear," 
and this is supposed to mean, " My iniquity is too great to be 
atoned for, except by my brother rising from the earth and 
slaying me." What" did the Holy One then ? He took one 
letter of the twenty-two which are in the Law, and He wrote it 
on the arm of Cain, as it is written, " He put a mark upon him." 4 
After Abel was slain, the dog which had kept his sheep 
guarded his body, says the Midrash. Adam and Eve sat be- 
side it and wept, and knew not what to do. Then said a ra- 
ven whose friend was dead, " I will teach Adam a lesson," and 
he dug a hole in the soil and laid his friend there and covered 
him up. And when Adam saw this, he said to Eve, " We will 
do the same with AbeL" God rewarded the raven for this by 
promising that none should ever injure his young, that he 
should always have meat in abundance, and that his prayer for 
rain should be immediately answered. 5 

But the Rabbi Johanan taught that Cain buried his brother 
to hide what he had done from the eye of God, not knowing 
that God can see even the most secret things. 6 

According to some Rabbis, all good souls are derived from 

1 Eisenmenger, i. p. 462. 2 Targum, i. p. 173. 

8 Jalkut Cadasch, fol. 6, col. i. 4 Pirke R. Eliezer, c. xxi. 

* Ibid. « Ibid. 



74 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. fvr. 

Abel and all bad souls from Cain. Cain's soul was derived 
from Satan, his body alone was from Eve ; for the Evil Spirit 
Sammael, according to some, Satan, according to others, de- 
ceived Eve, and thus Cain was the son of the Evil One. 1 All 
the children of Cain also became demons of darkness and 
nightmares, and therefore it is, say the Cabbalists, that there is 
no mention in Genesis of the death of any of Cain's offspring. 2 

When Cain had slain his brother, we are told in Scripture 
that he fled. Certain Rabbis give the reason : — He feared lest 
Satan should kill him : now Satan has no power over any one 
whose face he does not see, thus he had none over Lot's wife 
till she turned her face towards Sodom, and he could see it ; 
and Cain fled, to keep his face from being seen by the Evil 
One, and thus give him an opportunity of taking his life. 3 

With regard to the mark put upon Cain, there is great di- 
verging of opinion. Some say that his tongue turned white ; 
others, that he was given a peculiar dress ; others, that his face 
became black ; but the most prevalent opinion is that he be- 
came covered with hair, and a horn grew in the midst of his 
forehead. 

The Little Genesis says, Cain was born when Adam was 
aged seventy, and Abel when he was seventy-seven. 

The book of the penitence of Adam gives us some curious 
details. When Cain had killed his brother, he was filled with 
terror, for he saw the earth quivering. He cast the body into 
a hole and covered it with dust, but the earth threw the body 
out Then he dug another hole and heaped earth on his 
brother's corpse, but again the earth rejected it. 

When God appeared before him, Cain trembled in all his 
limbs, and God said to him, " Thou tremblest and art in fear ; 
this shall be thy sign." And from that moment he quaked 
with a perpetual ague. 

The Rabbis give another mark as having been placed on 
Cain. They say that a horn grew out of the midst of his fore- 
head. He was killed by a son of Lamech, who, being short- 
sighted, mistook him for a wild beast ; but in the Little 
Genesis it is said that he was killed by the fall of his house, in 
the year 930, the same day that Adam died. According to 
the same authority, Adam and Eve bewailed Abel twenty-eight 
years. 

1 Eisenmenger, ii. p. 8. 2 Ibid., p. 428 3 Ibid., p. 455. 



Vl.l CAIN AND ABEL. 75 

The Talmud relates the following beautiful incident. 

God had cursed Cain, and he was doomed to a bitter pun- 
ishment ; but moved, at last, by Cain's contrition, he placed 
on his brow the symbol of pardon. 

Adam met Cain, and looked with wonder on the seal or to- 
ken, and asked, — 

" How hast thou turned away the wrath of the Almighty ? " 

" By confession of sin and repentance," answered the frat- 
ricide. 

" Woe is me ! " cried Adam, smiting his brow ; " is the vir- 
tue of repentance so great, and I knew it not ! And by repent- 
ance I might have altered my lot ! " * 

Tabari says that Cain was the first worshipper of fire. 
Eblis (Satan) appeared to him and told him that the reason 
of the acceptance of Abel's sacrifice was, that he had invoked 
the fire that fell on it and consumed it ; Cain had not done 
this, and therefore fire had not come down on his oblation. 
Cain believed this, and adored fire, and taught his children to 
do the same. 2 

Cain, says Josephus, having wandered over the earth with 
his wife, settled in the land of Nod. But his punishment, so 
far from proving of advantage to him, proved only a stimulus 
to his violence and passion ; and he increased his wealth by 
rapine, and he encouraged his children and friends to live by 
robbery and in luxury. He also corrupted the primitive sim- 
plicity in which men lived, by the introduction amongst them 
of weights and measures, by placing boundaries, and wailing 
cities. 

John Malala says the same : " Cain was a tiller of the 
ground till he committed the crime of slaying his brother • af- 
ter that, he lived by violence, his hand being against every 
man, and he invented and taught men the use of weights, 
measures, and boundaries." 4 

The passage in Genesis " Whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance 
shall be taken on him sevenfold" 5 has been variously interpreted. 
Cosmas Indopleustes renders it thus, "Whosoever slayeth Cain 
will discharge seven vengeances : " that is, he will deliver him 
from those calamities to which he is subject when living. 6 

1 Tract. Avoda Sara. 2 Tabari, i. c. xix. 

8 Antiq. Jucbe., lib. i. c. 2. 

4 Excerpta Chronologica, p. 2. * Gen. iv. 15. 

4 Cosmas Indopleustes, Cosmographia, lib. v. 



7 6 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [vx 

But Malala renders it otherwise ; he says it is to be thus 
understood : " Every murderer shall die for his sin, but thou 
who didst commit the first homicide, and art therefore the 
originator of this crime, shalt be punished sevenfold ; that is, 
thou shalt undergo seven punishments." For Cain had com- 
mitted seven crimes. First, he was guilty of envy ; then, of 
treachery ; thirdly, of murder ; fourthly, of killing his brother ; 
fifthly, this was the first murder ever committed ; sixthly, he 
grieved his parents ; and seventhly, Cain lied to God. Thus 
the sin of Cain was sevenfold ; therefore sevenfold was his 
punishment. First, the earth was accursed on his account ; 
secondly, he was sentenced to labor; thirdly, the earth was 
forbidden from yielding to him her strength ; fourthly, he was 
to become timid and conscience-stricken ; fifthly, he was to be 
a vagabond on the earth ; sixthly, he was to be cast out from 
God's presence ; seventhly, a mark was to be placed upon 
him. 

The Mussulmans say that the penitence of Cain, whom 
they call Kabil, was not sincere. He was filled with remorse, 
but it was mingled with envy and hatred, because he was re- 
garded with disfavor by the rest of the sons of Adam. 

Near Damascus is shown a place at the foot of a mountain 
where Cain slew Abel. 1 

The legends of the death of Cain will be found under the 
title of Lamech. 

" Half a mile from the gates of Hebron," says the Capuchin 
Friar, Ignatius von Rheinfelden, in his Pilgrimage to Jerusa- 
lem, " begins the valley of Mamre, in which Abraham saw the 
three angels ; the Campus Damascenus lies toward the west ; 
there, Adam was created ; and the spot is pointed out where 
Cain killed his brother Abel. The earth there is red, and may 
be moulded like wax." 2 Salmeron says the same, " Adam was 
made of the earth or dust of the Campus Damascenus" And 
St. Jerome on Ezekiel, chap, xvii., says : " Damascus is the 
place where Abel was slain by his brother Cain ; for which 
cause the spot is called Damascus, that is, Blood-drinking." 
This Damascus near Hebron is not to be confused with the 
city Damascus. 

1 D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale, sub voce Cabil, i. p. 438. 

2 Neue Ierosolymitanische Pilgerfahrt. Von P. F. Ignat. von Rhein- 
felden. Wiirtzburg, 1667. P. ii. p. 8. 



vn.] THE DEATH OF ADAM, 77- 

VII. 
THE DEATH OF ADAM. 1 

According to a Mussulman tradition, Adam was consoled 
for the loss of Abel by the discovery of how to make wheat- 
bread. The story is as follows : — 

The angel Gabriel was sent out of Paradise to give him 
the rest of the wheat-grains Eve had plucked from the forbid- 
den tree, together with two oxen, and various instruments of 
husbandry. Hitherto he had fed on roots and berries, and 
had known nothing of sowing grain ; acting under Gabriel's 
directions, he ploughed the land, but the plough stuck, and 
Adam impatiently smote one of the oxen, and it spoke to him 
and said, "Wherefore hast thou. smitten me?" 

Adam replied, " Because thou dost not draw the plough." 

" Adam ! " said the ox, " when thou wast rebellious, did God 
smite thee thus ? " 

" O God ! " cried Adam to the Almighty, " is every beast to 
reproach me, and recall to me my sin ? " 

Then God heard his cry, and withdrew from beasts the 
power of speech, lest they should cast their sin in the teeth of 
men. 

But as the blow was still arrested, Adam dug into the soil, 
and found that the iron had been caught by the body of his 
son Abel. 

When the wheat was sprung up, Gabriel gave Adam fire 
from hell, which however he had previously washed seventy 
times in the sea, or it would have consumed the earth and all 
things thereon. In the beginning, wheat-grains were the size 
of ostrich eggs, but under Edris (Enoch) they were no bigger 
than goose eggs ; under Elias they were the size of hen's eggs ; 
under Christ, when the Jews sought to slay him, they were no 
larger than grapes ; it was in the time of Uzeir (Esdras) that they 
diminished to their present proportions. 

After Adam and Eve had been instructed in all that apper- 
tained to agriculture, Gabriel brought them a lamb and show- 
ed Adam how to slay it in the name of God, how to shear off 
the wool, and skin the sheep. Eve was instructed in the art 
of spinning and weaving by the angel, and she made of the 



7 8 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [vil 

wool, first a veil for herself, and then a shirt for her hus- 
band. 

The first pair brought up their grandsons and great grand- 
sons, to the number of 40,000 according to some, and 70,000 
according to others, and taught them all that they had learned 
of the angel. 

After the death of Abel, and after Cain had been slain by 
the avenging angel, Eve bore a third son, named Seth, who be- 
came the father of the race of the prophets. 

Finally, when Adam had reached his nine hundred and 
thirtieth year, the Angel of Death appeared under the form of 
a goat, and ran between his legs. 

Adam recoiled with horror, and exclaimed, " God has given 
me one thousand years ; wherefore comest thou now ? " 

" What ! " exclaimed the Angel of Death, " hast thou not 
given seventy years of thy life to the prophet David ? " 

Adam stoutly denied that he had done so. Then the Angel 
of Death drew the document of transfer from out of his beard, 
and presented it to Adam, who could no longer refuse to go. 

His son Seth washed and buried him, after that the angel 
Gabriel, or, according to some accounts, Allah himself, had 
blessed him : Eve died a year later. 

Learned men are not agreed as to the place of their burial ; 
some traditions name India, others the Mount Kubais, and 
others again, Jerusalem — God alone knows ! * 

Tabari says that Adam made Seth his testamentary exec- 
utor. 

" When Adam was dead, Gabriel instructed Seth how to 
bury him, and brought him the winding sheet out of heaven. 
And Gabriel said to Seth, 'Thou art sole executor of thy father, 
therefore it is thy office to perform the religious functions. ' 
Then Seth recited over Adam thirty Teblrs. Four of these 
Teblrs were the legal prayers, the others were supererogatory, 
and were designed to exalt the virtues of Adam. Some say that 
Adam was buried near Mecca, on Mount Abui-Kubais." 2 

According to the apocryphal " Life of Adam and Eve," 
Adam before his death called to his bedside all his sons and 
daughters, and they numbered fifteen thousand males, and 
females unnumbered. Adam is said to have been the author 
of several psalms ; amongst others Psalm civ., Benedic anima 

1 Weil, pp. 40-3. ' Tabari, i. c, xxxiii. 



TO.] THE DEATH OF ADAM. jg 

mea, and Psalm cxxxix., D o mine p rob asti ; as may be gathered 
from the 14th, 15 th, and 1 6th verses: "My bones are not hid 
from thee : though T was ?nade secretly, and fashioned beneath in 
the earth. Thi?ie eyes did see my substance, yet being imperfect ; 
and in Thy book were all my members written ; which day by day 
were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them T 

The Arabs say that when Adam dictated his last will and 
testament, the angel Gabriel descended from heaven to receive 
it, accompanied by sixty-two millions of angels, each provided 
with clean white sheets of parchment and pens, and that the 
will was sealed by Gabriel. 1 

Tradition is not agreed as to the place of Adam's burial. 
Khaithemah says that Adam was buried near Mecca on Mount 
Abu-Kubais. But the ancient Persians assert that he was 
buried in Ceylon, where his sepulchre was guarded by lions at 
the time of the war of the giants. 2 

But the most generally received tradition is this : — 

The body of Adam was taken by Noah into the ark, and 
when the ark rested on Ararat, Noah and his sons removed the 
body from it, and they followed an angel who led them to the 
place where the first father was to lie. Shem or Melchizedek 
— for they are one, as we shall see presently — being consecra- 
ted by God to the priesthood,performed the religious rites ; and 
buried Adam at the centre of the earth, which is Jerusalem ; 
but, say some, he was buried by Shem along with Eve, in the 
cave of Machpelah, in Hebron. But others relate that Noah 
on leaving the ark distributed the bones of Adam among his 
sons, and that he gave the head to Shem, who buried it in 
Jerusalem. Some, taking this mystically, suppose that by this 
is meant the sin and punishment of Adam, which was trans- 
mitted to all the sons of Noah, but that to Shem was given the 
head, the Messiah who was to regenerate the world. 3 S. Basil 
of Seleucia says : " According to Jewish traditions, the skull of 
- Adam was found there (i. e., on Golgotha), and this, they say, 
Solomon knew by his great wisdom. And because it was the 
place of Adam's skull, therefore the hill was called Golgotha, 
or Calvary." 4 

With this a great concourse of Fathers agree ; whose testi- 

1 Colin de Plancy, p. 78. * Herbelot, i. p. 95. 

3 Moses bar Cepha. Commentarius de Paradiso, P. i. c. 14. Fabri- 
cius, i. p. 75. 

4 S. Basil Seleuc. Orat. xxxviii. 



80 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [vn. 

mony has been laboriously collected by Gretser in his famous 
and curious book " De Cruce." And this tradition has become a 
favorite subject for artists, who, in their paintings or sculp* 
tures, represent the skull of Adam at the foot of the Cross of 
Christ. 

The apocryphal " Testament of Adam " still exists. 

The tomb of Eve is shown at Jedda. "On entering the 
great gate of the cemetery, one observes on the left a little wall 
three feet high, forming a square of ten to twelve feet. There 
lies the head of our first mother. In the middle of the ceme- 
tery is a sort of cupola, where reposes the navel of her body ; 
and at the other extremity, near the door of egress, is another 
little wall also three feet high, forming a lozenge-shaped enclo- 
sure : there are her feet. In this place is a large piece of cloth, 
whereon the faithful deposit their offerings, which serve for the 
maintenance of a constant burning of perfumes over the midst 
of her body. The distance between her head and feet is four 
hundred feet. How we have shrunk since the creation ! " 1 

The bones of Adam and Eve, says Tabari, were taken by 
Noah into the ark with him, and were reburied by him. 

This article may be fitly concluded with the epitaph of 
Adam, composed by Gabriel Alvarez, and published by him in 
his "Historia Ecclesiae Antediluvianae," Madrid, 17 13. 

" Here lies, reduced to a pinch of dust, he who, from a pinch of 

dust, was formed to govern the earth, 

Adam, 

The son of None, the father of All, the stepfather of All 

and of himself. 

Having never wailed as a child, he spent his life in weeping 

the result of penitence. 

Powerful, Wise, Immortal, Just, 

he sold for the price of disobedience, power, wisdom, justice, 

immortality. 

Having abused the privilege of Free-will, which weapon 

he had received for the preservation of Knowledge and Grace, 

by one stroke he struck with death himself and all the human race. 

The Omnipotent Judge 

who in His Justice took from him Righteousness, by His Mercy 

restored it to him whole again : 

by whose goodness it has fallen out, that we may 

call that crime happy, which obtained such and so great 

A Redeemer. 

Thenceforth Free-will, which he in happiness used to 

1 Lettre de H. A. D., Consul de France en Abyssinie, 1841. 



VIII.] SETH. 8 1 

bring forth Misery, is used in Misery to bring forth 

Happiness. 

For if we, partakers of his pernicious inheritance, partake 

also of his penitential example, and lend our ears 

to salutary counsels, 

Then we (who by gur Free-will could lose ourselves) can be saved 

by the grace of the Redeemer, and the co-operation of our 

Free-will. 

The First Adam Lived to Die ; 

The Second Adam Died to Live. 

Go, and imitate the penitence of the First Adam ; 

Go, and celebrate the Goodness of the Second Adam, 



VIII. 
SETH. 

When Seth had ascended the throne of his father, says 
Tabari, he was the greatest of the sons of Adam. Every year 
he made the pilgrimage to the Kaaba, and he ruled the world 
with equity, and every thing flourished during his reign. At 
the age of fifty he had a son ; he called his name Enoch, and 
named him his executor. He died at the age of nine hundred. 1 

Seth and the other sons of Adam waged perpetual war 
against the Dives, or giants, the sons of Kabil, or Cain. 

Rocail was another son of Adam, born next after Seth. 

He possessed, says the Tahmurath Nameh, the most won- 
derful knowledge in all mysteries. He had a genius so quick 
and piercing, that he seemed to be rather an angel than a 
man. 

Surkrag, a great giant, son of Cain, commanded in the 
mountains of Kaf, which encompass the centre of the earth. 
This giant asked Seth to send him Rocail, his brother, to as- 
sist him in governing his subjects. Seth consented, and Ro- 
cail became the vizier or prime minister of Surkrag, in the 
mountains of Kaf. 

After having governed many centuries, and knowing, by 
divine revelation, that the time of his death drew nigh, he thus 
addressed Surkrag : " I am about to depart hence and enter 
on another existence , but before I leave, I wish to bequeath 
to you some famous work, which shall perpetuate my name 
into remote ages," 

1 Tabari, i. c. xxxiv. 
4* 



82 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [viit. 

Thereupon Rocail erected an enormous sepulchre, adorned 
with statues of various metals, made by talismanic art, which 
moved, and spake, and acted like living men. 1 

According to the Rabbinic traditions, Seth was one of the 
thirteen who came circumcised into the world. The rest were 
Adam, Enoch, Noah, Shem, Terah, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, 
Samuel, David, Isaiah, and Jeremiah. 2 The book Schene 
Luchr,th says that the soul of righteous Abel passed into the 
body of Seth, and afterwards this same soul passed into Moses ; 
thus the law, which was known to Adam and in which Abel 
had been instructed, was not new to Moses. 3 

The Little Genesis says, that Seth was instructed by the 
angels in what was to take place in the world ; how its iniquity 
was to grow, and a flood was to overwhelm it ; and how the 
Messiah would come and restore all things. Seth was re- 
markable for the majesty and beauty of his appearance, as he 
had inherited much of the loveliness of unfallen man. He 
married his sister Azur, or, according to others, Noraea or 
Horsea. 

Suidas under the heading ' 2??5,> says : " Seth was the son 
of Adam : of this it is said, the sons of God went in unto the 
daughters of men ; that is to say, the sons of Seth went in 
unto the daughters of Cain. For in that age Seth was called 
God, because he had discovered Hebrew letters, and the names 
of the stars ; but especially on account of his great piety, so 
that he was the first to bear the name of God. 

Theodoret thus refers to the verse, — " And to Seth, to him 
also there was born a son ; and he called his name Unos ; then 
began men to call upon the name of the Lord" or as our marginal 
reading is, " then began men to call themselves by the name of the 
Lord: " " Aquila interpreted it thus, ' then Seth began to be 
called by the name of the Lord. 5 These words intimate his 
piety, which deserved that he should receive the sacred name ; 
and he was called God by his acquaintance, and his children 
were termed the sons of God, just as we are called Christians 
after Christ." 4 

The origin of this tradition seems to be the fact that Seth 
was the name of an ancient Egyptian deity, at first regarded as 
the giver of light and civilization, but afterwards identified with 

1 D'Herbelot, i. p. 125, s. v. Rocail. 

2 Midrash Tillim, fol. 10, col. 2. 

8 Eisenmenger, i. p. 645. 4 Theodoret, Quaest. in Gen. xlviu 



viit.] SETH. $2 

Typhon by the Egyptians, who considered Seth to be the chief 
god of the Hyksos or shepherd kings ; and in their hatred of 
these oppressors, the name of Seth was everywhere obliterated 
on their monuments, and he was regarded as one with the great 
adversary, Typhon ; and was represented as an ass, or with an 
ass's head. 1 

Abulfaraj, in his history, says that Seth discovered letters, 
and that, desirous to recover the Blessed Life, he and his sons 
went to Mount Hermon, where they served God in piety and 
continence, and associated not with the people of the land, nor 
took to themselves wives ; wherefore they were called the sons 
of God.* 

Flavius Josephus relates that after the things that were to 
take place had been revealed to Seth, — how the earth was to 
be destroyed, first with water and then with fire, — lest those 
things which he had discovered should perish from the memo- 
ry of his posterity, he set up two pillars, one of brick, the other 
of stone, and he wrote thereon all the science he had acquired, 
hoping that, in the event of the brick pillar perishing by the 
rain, the stone would endure. 3 

Freculphus adds that Jubal assisted the sons of Seth in 
engraving on the columns all that was known of the conduct 
and order of the heavens, and all the arts then known. 4 

The stone pillar was to be seen, in the time of Josephus, 
in Syria. 

Anastasius of Sinai says that, when God created Adam 
after His image and likeness, He breathed into him grace, and 
illumination, and a ray of the Holy Spirit. But when he 
sinned, this glory left him, and his face became clouded. 
Then he became the father of Cain and Abel. But afterwards 
it is said in Scripture, " He begat a son in his own likeness, after 
his image ; and called his name Seth ; " which is not said of 
Cain and Abel ; and this means that Seth was begotten in the 
likeness of unfallen man and after the image of Adam in 
Paradise ; and he called his name Seth, that is, by interpreta- 
tion, Resurrection, because in him he saw the resurrection of 
his departed beauty, and wisdom and glory, and radiance of 

1 Plutarch, Isis and Osiris, ed. Parthey; pp. 72, 88, and notes pp. 183 
238. 

2 Abulfaraj, Hist. Dynast., ed. Pocock, p. 5. 

3 Joseph. Antiq. Judaic, lib. i. c. 2. 

4 Freculphus, Chron. lib. i. c. 12. 



84 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [ix. 

the Holy Spirit. And all those then living, when they saw 
how the face of Seth shone with divine light, and heard him 
speak with divine wisdom, said he is God ; therefore his sons 
were commonly called the sons of God. 1 

As Seth was an ancient Egyptian Sun-god, the origin of 
the myth of his shining face can be ascertained without dif- 
ficulty. 

To Seth were attributed several apocryphal writings. 



IX. 
CAINAN SON OF ENOS. 

" And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos : 
and Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, 
and begat sons and daughters : and all the days of Seth were 
nine hundred and twelve years : and he died. And Enos lived 
ninety years, and begat. Cainan" 2 

Alexander wrote many epistles to Aristotle, his preceptor, 
in which he narrated what had befallen him in India. Amongst 
other things he wrote : " After I had entered the Persian re- 
gion, which is a province of India, I arrived at some islands 
of the sea, and there I found men, like women, who feed on 
raw fish, and spake a language very like Greek ; they said to 
me that there was in the island the sepulchre of a most an- 
cient king, who was called Cainan, son of Enos, and who 
ruled the whole world, and taught men all kinds of knowledge, 
and had demons and all kinds of evil spirits under his control. 
He, by his wisdom, understood that the ever-blessed God 
would bring in a flood in the times of Noah ; wherefore he 
engraved all that was to take place on stone tables, which 
exist there to this day, and are written in Hebrew characters. 
He wrote therein that the ocean would, in that age, overflow 
a third part of the world, which took place in the lifetime of 
Enos, the son of Seth, who was the son of Adam, our first 
parent. 

" In the same island, Cainan built a most extensive city, 
surrounded with walls ; and a great marble citadel, in which 

1 Anastasius Sinaita, OSr/yo?. ed. Gretser, Ingolst. 1606, p. 269. 
* Gen. v. 6-9. 



X.] ENOCH. ' 85 

he treasured jewels and pearls, and gold and silver in great 
abundance. 

" Moreover, he erected a tower, very lofty, over a sepulchre 
for himself, to serve as his monument. This tower can be 
approached by no man ; for it was built by astronomical art 
under the seven planets, and with magical skill, so that every 
one who draws near the wall is struck down with sudder* 
death." 1 



ENOCH. 

I. THE TRANSLATION OF ENOCH. 

Enoch, or Edris, 2 as he is called by the Arabs, was born 
in Hindostan, but he lived in Yemen. He was a prophet 
In his days men worshipped fire, being deceived by Eblis. 
When God sent Enoch to his brethren to turn them from their 
false worship, they would not believe him. 

Idolatry began in the times of Jared, son of Mahalaleel^ 
and it spread to such an extent that, when Noah was born, 
there were not eighty persons who worshipped the true, and 
living, and only God. Jared fought Satan, the prince of de- 
mons, and captured him, and led him about in chains where- 
ever he went. 

Enoch knew how to sew, and was an accomplished tailor^ 
He was the first to put pen to paper ; he wrote many books. 
He had in his possession the books of Adam, and for ten years,, 
instead of sleeping, he spent the night in reading them. 

He instructed men in the art of making garments ; Enoch 
showed them how to cut out the skins to the proper shape, 
and to sew them together ; and how to make shoes to protect 
their feet. 

And then, when the people had derived this great blessing 
from him, they were ready to listen to his books ; and he read 

1 Pseudo Joseph us Gorionides ; ed. Clariss. Breithauptius, lib. ii. c. lo, 
p. 131. 

2 I give the Arabic legend. The account in Jasher is different. Enoch 
retired from the world, and showed himself only at rare intervals, when 
he gave advice to all who came to hear his wisdom. He was taken up ta 
heaven in a whirlwind, in a chariot with horses of fire. (Yaschar, pp 
1094-1096.) 



$6 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [x. 

to them the books of Adam, and endeavored thereby to bring 
them back to the knowledge of the true God. 

When he had spent many years in prayer, the Angel of 
Death desired to make a compact of friendship with him. He 
took on him a human form and approached him, saying, " I am 
the Angel of Death, and I desire thy friendship. On account 
of thy great piety, thou mayest make me a request which I 
shall accomplish." 

Enoch answered, "I desire that thou shouldst take my 
soul." 

The angel replied, " I have not come to thee for this pur- 
pose ; thy time is not yet arrived at its appointed close." 

Then Enoch said, " It is well ; but take my soul away for a 
little space, and then return it to my body, if God so wills." 

The angel said, " I cannot do this without God's consent." 
But he presented the supplication of Enoch before Allah, and 
God, knowing what was the design of Enoch, granted the 
prayer. 

Then Azrael bore away the soul of Enoch, and at the same 
instant the Eternal One restored it to him. After this, Enoch 
continued to praise and pray to God ; and the Angel of Death 
became his friend, and often came to visit him. 

Years passed, and Enoch said one day to the angel, " Oh, 
my friend ! I have yet a request to make." 

Azrael answered, " If I can grant it, I will do so readily." 

Enoch said, "I would see Hell, for I have undergone death, 
and I know its sensations. I would know now the torments 
of the lost." 

But the angel answered, "This I cannot grant without 
permission from the Almighty." 

God heard the prayer of Enoch, and He suffered Azrael to 
accomplish what the prophet had desired. Then the Angel 
of Death bore away Enoch, and showed him the seven stages 
of Hell, and all the torments inflicted there on sinners : after 
that he replaced him where he was before. 

After some while had elapsed, Enoch again addressed 
Azrael, and said, " I have another request to make." 

The angel answered, " Say on." 

Then said Enoch, " I desire to see the Paradise of God, as 
I have seen Hell." 

Azrael replied, " I cannot grant thy petition without the 
consent of God." 



xj E l N 'oca. 87 

But the All-Merciful, when he heard the request of his 
servant consented that it should be even as he desired. So 
the angel bore Enoch into Paradise. And when they had 
reached the gates, the keeper, Ridhwan, refused to open, say- 
ing to Enoch, " Thou art a man, and no man can enter Para- 
dise who has not tasted death." 

Then Enoch replied, " I also have tasted death ; the soul 
that I have will dwell eternally with me ; God has resuscitated 
me from death." 

Ridhwan, however, said, " I cannot do this thing and admit 
thee without the order of God." 

Then the order arrived from Allah, and the angel of the 
gate refused no more ; so Enoch entered ; but before Enoch 
and Azrael passed the gates, Ridwan said to the prophet, " Go 
in, and behold Paradise, but be speedy and leave it again, for 
thou mayest not dwell there till after the Resurrection." 

Enoch replied, " Be it so ; " and he went in and viewed 
Paradise, and came out, as he had promised ; and as he passed 
the threshold of the door he turned and said to the angel, " Oh, 
Ridhwan ! I have left something in there ; suffer me to run and 
fetch it." 

But Ridhwan refused ; and a dispute arose between them. 

Enoch said, " I am a prophet ; and God has sent me thirty 
books, and I have written them all, and I have never revolted 
against God. In those books that God sent me, I was promised 
Paradise. If it be necessary that I should have undergone 
death I have undergone it. If it be necessary that I should 
have seen Hell, I have seen it. Now I am come to Paradise, 
and that is my home ; God has promised it to me, and now 
that I have entered I will leave it no more." 

The dispute waxed hot, but it was terminated by the order 
of God, who bade Ridhwan open the gate and re-admit Enoch 
into Paradise, where he still dwells. 1 

2. THE BOOK OF ENOCH. 

The Book of Enoch, quoted by S. Jude in his Epistle, and 
alluded to by Origen, S. Augustine, S. Clement of Alexandria,, 
and others of the Fathers, must not be passed over. 

The original book appears from internal evidence to have 

1 Tabari, i. c. xxxv. 



38 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [*. 

been written about the year no b. c. 1 But we have not the 
work as then written • it has suffered from numerous interpola- 
tions, and it is difficult always to distinguish the original text 
from the additions. 

The book is frequently quoted in the apocryphal " Testa- 
ment of the Twelve Patriachs," which is regarded as canonical 
by the Armenian Church, but the references are for the most 
part not to be found in the text. It was largely used by some 
of the early Christian writers, either with acknowledgment or 
without. The monk George Syncellus, in the eighth century, 
extracted portions to compose his Chronography. This frag- 
ment in Syncellus was all that was known of the book in the 
West till the last century. The Jews, though remembering the 
work, had lost it in Hebrew ; but it was alluded to by the 
Rabbis down to the thirteenth century, and it is referred to in 
the Book Sohar, though the writer may not have read the book 
of Enoch. Bruce, the African traveller, was the first to bring 
it to Europe from Abyssinia in two MSS. , in the year 1773. 
Much attention was not, however, paid to it till 1800, when 
De Sacy in his a Magasin Encyclopedique," under the title 
" Notice sur le Livre d'Enoch," gave some account of the work. 
In 1 80 1, Professor Laurence gave to the public an English 
translation, accompanied by some critical remarks. Since 
then, the book has been carefully and exegetically examined. 
The version we now have is Ethiopic. 

The Book of Enoch consists of five divisions, or books, 
together with a Prolegomena and an Epilegomena. 

After the introduction (caps. 1-5), which describes the 
work as the revelation of the seer Enoch concerning the fu- 
ture judgment and its consequences, with warnings to the elect 
as to the signs ; the First part (caps. 6-16) opens with an ac- 
count of the fall of the Angels, their union with the daughters 
of men, and the generation of the giants. Connected with 
this, and divided from it by no superscription or sign of change 
of subject, is an account of a journey made by Enoch, in the 
company of the angels, over the earth and through the lower 
circles of heaven, during which he is instructed in various mys- 
teries hidden from the knowledge of men, and a great deal of 
this wondrous information is communicated to the reader. 

1 Dillman, Das Buch Enock ; Leipzig, 1853. Ewald, in his "Ges- 
chichte der Volks Israel" (iii. 2, pp. 397-401), attributes it to the year 
130. b. c. 



X.] ENOCH. 89 

This description of a journey, which is itself divided into 
two parts, unquestionably belongs to the original book, and the 
historical portion, narrating the procreation of the Giants, is an 
interpolation. 

The Second portion of the book (caps. 37-71), with its own 
special superscription and introduction, is called "The Second 
History of Wisdom." It continues the history of the voyage. 
The first portion contained the description of the mysterious 
places and things in the earth and in the lower heaven ; the 
second portion contains an account of the mysteries of the 
highest heaven, the angel-world, the founding of the kingdom 
of the Messias, and the signs of His coming. 

The close of this portion contains prophecies of Noah's 
Flood, and accounts of the fall of the Angels, their evil life and 
their punishment. The whole account of the Flood, which 
comes in without rhyme or reason, is also a manifest interpola- 
tion. 

The Third portion (caps. 72-82) also under its own head- 
ing, is on "The Revolution of the Lights of Heaven," and de- 
scribes the motions of the planets, the duration of the seasons, 
and the number of the days of the months, and the great winds 
of heaven. With this part the voyage of Enoch closes. 

The Fourth part (caps. 83-91), which has no superscrip- 
tion, but which is generally designated as " The Book of the 
Dream History," contains the visions shown Enoch in his 
youth, which, in a series of pictures, gives the history of the 
world till the end of time. This part closes with some words 
of advice from Enoch to his sons. 

The Fifth and last part (caps. 92-105) is "The Book of 
Exhortation," addressed by Enoch to his family against sin 
in all its forms, under all its disguises, and concludes with an 
account of certain presages which should announce the birth 
of Noah. 

The Talmudic writers taught that Enoch at his translation 
became a chief angel, and that his name became Metatron. 
In the Chaldee version of Jonathan on the words of Genesis 
v. 24, it is said, " And Enoch served before the Lord in truth, 
and was not among the inhabitants of the earth, for he was 
translated above into the firmament, through the word of the 
Lord ; and He called him by the name of Metatron (the great 
writer). " And in Rabbi Menachem's Commentary on the 
Five Books of Moses, it is written, " The Rabbi Ishmael re- 



^o OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [x. 

lates that he spoke to the Metatron, and he asked him why 
he was named with the name of his Creator and with seventy 
names, and why he was greater than any prince, and higher than 
any angel, and dearer than any servant, and more honored 
than all the host and more excellent in greatness, in power, 
and dominion than all the mighty ones. Then he answered 
and said, ' Because I was Enoch, son of Jared. This is what 
the holy, ever-blessed God wrought, — when the races of the 
Flood (/. <?., the sinners who lived at the time when the Flood 
came) sinned, and did unrighteously in their works, and had 
said to God, " Depart from us," — He took me from that un- 
toward generation into the highest heaven, that I might be a 
witness against that generation. And after the ever-blessed 
God had removed me that I should stand before the throne 
of his Majesty, and before the wheels of His chariot, and ac- 
complish the requirements of the Most High, then my flesh 
became flame, and my arteries fire, and my bones juniper 
ashes, and the light of my eyelids became the flashing of light- 
ning, and my eyeballs torches of fire, and the hair of my head 
was a flame, and all my limbs were fiery, burning wings, and 
my body became burning fire ; and by my right hand flames 
were cleft asunder ; and from my left hand burnt fiery torches ; 
but around me blew a wind, and storm, and tempest ; and be- 
fore and behind me was the voice of a mighty earthquake/ " 

The Rabbi Ishmael gives further particulars which are en- 
shrined in the great Jalkut Rubeni. 1 

The Rabbi Ishmael, according to this book, received in ad- 
dition these particulars from the lips of Enoch. He was car- 
ried to heaven in a chariot of fire by horses of fire ; and when 
he entered into the presence of God, the Sacred Beasts, the Ser- 
aphim, the Osannim, the Cherubim, the wheels of the chariot, 
and all the fiery ministers recoiled five thousand three hundred 
and eighty miles at the smell of him, and cried aloud " What 
a stink is come among us from one born of a woman ! Why is 
one who has eaten of white wheat admitted into heaven ? " 

Then the Almighty answered and said, "My servants, 
Cherubim and Seraphim, do not be grieved, for all my sons 
have rejected my sovereignty and adore idols, this man alone 
excepted ; and in reward I exalt him to principality over the 
angels in heaven." When Enoch heard this he was glad, for 

1 Fol. 26, col. 2. 



XT] THE GIANTS. 91 

he had been a simple shoemaker on earth ; but this had he 
done, at every stitch he had said, " The name of God and His 
Majesty be praised." 

The height of Enoch when a chief angel v/as very great. 
It would take a man five hundred years to walk from his heel 
to the crown of his head. And the ladder which Jacob saw in 
vision was the ladder of Metatron. 1 The same authority, above 
quoted, the Rabbi Ishmael, is reported to have had the exact 
measure of Enoch from his own lips ; it was seven hundred 
thousand times thousand miles in length and in breadth. 2 

The account in the Targum of Palestine is simply this. 
" Enoch served in the truth before the Lord j and behold, he 
was not with the sojourners of the earth ; for he was withdrawn, 
and he ascended to the firmament by the Word before the Lord, 
and his name was called Metatron, the Great Saphra." 3 

Whether the Annakos, or Nannakos of whom Suidas wrote, 
is to be identified with Enoch, I do not venture to decide. Sui- 
das says that Nannak was an aged king before Deucalion (Noah), 
and that, foreseeing the Deluge, he called all his subjects to- 
gether into the temple to pray the gods with many tears to re- 
mit the evil. 4 And Stephanos, the Byzantine lexicographer, 
says that Annakos lived at Iconium in Phrygia, and that to 
weep for Annak, became a proverb. 



XI. 
THE GIANTS. 

The Giants, say the Cabbalists, arose thus. . 

Aza and Azael, two angels of God, complained to the Most 
High at the creation of man, and said, " Why hast Thou made 
man who will anger Thee ? " 

But God answered, " And you, O angels, if you were in the 
lower world, you too, would sin." And He sent them on earth, 
and then they fell, as says the Book of Genesis, " And it came 
to pass that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they 
were fair, and they took them wives of all which they chose. " 
After they had sinned, they were given bodies of flesh ; for an 

1 Jalkut Rubeni, fol. 27, col. 4. 2 Ibid., fol. 107, col. i. 

8 Targums, ed. Etheridge, i. p. 175. 
4 Suidas, Lexic. s. v. Nannacos. 



^2 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [XL 

angel who spends seven days on earth becomes opaque and 
substantial. And when they had been clothed with flesh and 
with a corrupt nature, then they spake the word " Shem ham- 
phorasch," and sought to regain their former place, but could 
not ; and were cast out into mountains, there to dwell. From 
these angels descend the sons of the giants and the Anakim, 
and from their seed also spring the devils. 1 The Rabbi Eliezer 
says that the giants sprang from the union of the angels with the 
daughters of Cain, who walked about in immodest clothing and 
cast their eyes around with bold glances. And the book Zeena- 
ureena, in the Parascha Chykkath, says that Og sprang from 
this connection, and that Sammael, the angel , was the parent of 
Og, but that Sihon was the son of the same angel who deceived 
the wife of Ham when she was about to enter the ark. 2 
The account in the Book of Enoch is as follows : — 
" Hear and fear not, Enoch, thou righteous man, and writer 
of righteousness, come hither and hear my words : Go speak 
unto the Watchers of Heaven, and say unto them, Ye shall 
pray for men and not men for you. Why have ye forsaken the 
high and holy and eternal heaven, and have joined yourselves 
to women, and polluted yourselves with the daughters of men, 
and have taken to you wives, and have become the fathers of 
a giant race? Ye who were spiritual, holy, and enjoying 
eternal life, have corrupted yourselves with women, and have 
become parents of children with flesh and blood ; lusting after 
the blood of men, ye have brought forth flesh and blood, like 
those who are mortal and perishable. Because men die, 
therefore did I give unto them wives, that they might have sons, 
and perpetuate their generation. But ye are spiritual and in 
the enjoyment of eternal life. Therefore give I not to you 
wives, for heaven is the abode of the spirits. And now the 
giants, who are born of flesh and blood, shall become evil spir- 
its, and their dwelling shall be on the earth. Bad beings shall 
proceed from them. Because they have been generated from 
above, from the holy Watchers have they received their origin, 
therefore shall they be evil spirits on the earth, and evil spirits 
shall they be called. And the spirits of the giants, which 
mount upon the clouds, will fail and be cast down, and do vi- 
olence, and cause ruin on the earth and injury ; they shall not 
eat, they shall not thirst, and they shall be invisible." 3 

1 Nischmath Chajim, fol. 116, col. i. 2 Eisenmenger, i. p. 380. 

3 Das Buch Henoch, von Dillmann, Leipz. 1853, c. xv. p. 9. 



XL] THE GIANTS. 93 

Among the Oriental Christians it is said, that Adam having 
related to the children of Seth the delights of Paradise, sever- 
al of them desired to recover the lost possession. They re- 
tired to Mount Hermon and dwelt there in the fear of the Lord ; 
living in great austerity, in hope that their penitence would re- 
cover Eden. But the Canaanites dwelt round them on all 
sides, and the sons of Seth becoming tired of celibacy, took 
the daughters of the Canaanites to wife, and to them were born 
the giants. 1 

Others say that the posterity of the patriarch Seth were 
those called the " Sons of God," because they lived on Mount 
Hermon in familiar discourse with the angels. On this moun- 
tain they fed only on the fruit of the earth, and their sole oath 
was " By the blood of Abel." Q 

Among the giants was Surkrag, of whom we have already 
related a few particulars. He was not of the race of men, nor 
of the posterity of Adam. According to the Mussulman ac- 
count he was commander of the armies of Solimati Tchaghi, 
who reigned over the earth before the time of Gian ben Gian, 
who succeeded him and reigned seven thousand years. The 
whole earth was then in the power of the Jins. Gian ben Gian 
erected the pyramids of Egypt. 

Surkrag obeyed God, and followed the true religion, and 
would not suffer his subject Jins to insult or maltreat the de- 
scendants of Adam. He reigned on Mount Kaf, and allied 
himself, according to Persian authorities, with Kaiumarth, the 
first king of the world, whom some Persian writers identify 
with Adam, but others suppose to be the son of Mahalaleel, 
and cotemporary with Enoch. Ferdusi, the author of the 
Schah-Nameh, speaks of him as the first who wore a crown 
and sat on a throne, and imposed a tribute on his subjects. 
He says that this monarch lived a thousand years, and reign- 
ed five hundred and fifty years. He was the first to teach men 
to build houses. 

But if Kaiumarth was the first man to reign, he was the 
first also to weary of it ; for he abdicated his sovereignty and re- 
tired into his former abode, a cave, after having surrendered 
his authority to his son Siamek. Siamek having been killed, 
Kaiumarth re-ascended his throne to revenge his death. After 

1 Abulfaraj, p. 6. 

1 Eutycli. Patriarcha Alex., Annales ab Orbe Condito, Arabice et Lat H 
ed. Selden ; London, 1642, i. p. 19. 



94 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS, [xi„ 

having recovered the body of his son, he buried him with great 
honors, and kindled over his grave a great fire, which was 
kept perpetually burning, and this originated the worship of 
fire among the people of Iran. 

Kaiumarth overcame the giant Semendoun, who had a 
hundred arms ; his son, Huschenk, also overcame a giant who 
had three heads, mounted on an animal with twelve legs. 
This animal, namad Rakhsche, was found by him in the Dog 
Isle 5 or the New Continent, and was born of the union of a 
crocodile and an hippopotamus, and it fed on the flesh of ser- 
pents. Having mastered this beast, Huschenk overcame the 
Mahisers, which have heads of fish and are of great ferocity. 
After having extended his conquests to the extremities of the 
earth, Huschenk was crushed to death by a mass of rock which 
the giants, his mortal enemies, hurled against him. 1 

According to Tabari, Huschenk was the son of Kaiumarth, 
who was the son of Mahalaleel. He was the first man to cut 
down trees and to make boards, and fashion them into doors 
to close the entrance to houses. He also discovered many 
precious stones, such as the topaz and jacinth. He reigned 
four hundred years. 2 

He was succeeded by Tahmourath, who taught men to sad- 
dle and bridle horses ; he was also the first man to write in 
Persian characters ; he figures as a great hero in Iranian fable. 
According to the story in Persia, he was carried by the Simorg 
to the mountain of Kaf. Now the Simorg is a wondrous bird, 
speaking all languages, and eminently religious. 

According to the Kaherman Nameh, the bird Simorg, be- 
ing asked its age, replied, " This world has been seven times 
peopled, and seven times made void of living beings. The 
generation of Adam, in which we now are, will last seven thou- 
sand years, which form a cycle, and I have seen twelve of 
these revolutions. How manv more I shall see is unknown to 
me." 

The same book informs us that the Simorg was a great 
friend of the race of Adam, and a great enemy to the demons 
and Jins. He knew Adam personally, and had done obei- 
sance to him, and enjoyed the same religion as our first fa- 
thers. He foretold to Tahmourath all that v/as to take place 

1 D'Herbelot, s. v. Surkrag and Kaiumarth 

2 Tabari, c. xxxvii. 



xi.] THE GIANTS. 9 j 

in the world, and plucking from his bosom some feathers, he 
presented them to him, and from that time all great captains 
and men of war wear feather crests. 

Tahmourath having been transported by the bird to the 
mountains of Kaf, he assisted the Peris, who were at war with 
the Jins. Argenk, the giant, finding that the Peris were gain- 
ing the mastery, with the assistance of Tahmourath, sent an 
embassy desiring peace ; but the ambassador, Imlain, aban- 
doned the party of the Jins and assisted Tahmourath to obtain 
complete mastery in the mountains of Kaf, and to overcome 
not only the giant Argenk, but also Demrusch, a far more ter- 
rible monster. Demrusch lived in a cavern guarding a vast 
treasure, which he had amassed in Persia and India. He 
had also carried off the Peri Mergian. Tahmourath slew 
Demrusch and released Mergian. 

According to the Persian story, Tahmourath was the first 
to cultivate rice, and to nourish silk-worms in the province of 
Tabristan. 1 

To return to Tabari. 

Djemschid was the brother of Tahmourath ; he was the first 
man t<3 forge arms, and he is probably to be identified with 
Tubal-cain. He introduced also the use of pigments, and he 
discovered pearls, and also to dig for lime, vermilion, and 
quicksilver; he likewise compounded scents, and cultivated 
flowers. He divided all men into four classes, — soldiers, 
scribes, agriculturists, and artisans. At the head of all he 
placed the learned, that they might guide the affairs of men, 
and set them their tasks and instruct them in what they were 
to do. 

Then Djemschid asked the wise men, "What must a king 
do to secure his throne ? " 

They answered, " He must reign in equity." 

Consequently, Djsmschid instituted justice ; and he sat the 
first day of every month with his wise men, and ministered 
righteous judgments. For seven hundred years he continued 
this practice ; and in all that time no rebellion broke out, no 
afflictions troubled him, nor was his reign in any way menaced. 

One day, whilst Djemschid was taking his siesta alone in his 
chamber, Eblis entered by the window, and Djemschid asked, 
" Who art thou ? " Now he thought he was one of those who 

1 D'Herbelot, s. v. Tahmourath. 



96 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xn. 

waited without till he should come forth to administer justice. 
Eblis entered into conversation with Djemschid, and said, " I 
am an angel, and I have descended from heaven to give thee 
counsel." 

" What counsel dost thou offer ? " asked the king. 

Eblis replied, " Tell me, who thou art ? " 

He answered, " I am one of the sons of Adam." 

"Thou mistakest," said the Evil One : " thou art not a man. 
Consider, since thou hast reigned, has any thing failed thee ? 
Hast thou suffered any affliction, any loss, any revolt? If thou 
wert a son of Adam, sorrow would be thy lot. Nay, verily, thou 
art a god ! " 

" And what sign canst thou show me of my divinity ? " 

" I am an angel. Mortal man cannot behold an angel, and 
live." 

Then he vanished. Djemschid fell into the snare of pride. 

Next day he caused a great fire to be lighted, and he called 
together all men and said to them, "lama god, worship me ; 
I created heaven above and earth beneath ; and those that re- 
fuse to adore me shall be consumed in the fire." 

Then from fear of him many obeyed ; and the same hour 
revolt broke out. 

There was a man named Beyourasp who stirred up the peo- 
ple, and led a great army against Djemschid, and overcame him, 
and took from him his kingdom, and sawed the king asunder 
from the head to the feet. 1 



XII. 

LAMECH. 

" Methusael begat Lantech. And Lantech took unto him two 
wives : the name of one was Adah, and the name of the other Zil- 
lah. And Adah bare jfabal : he was the father of such as dwell 
in tents, and of such as have cattle. And his brother's name was 
Jubal : he was the father of all such as handle the harp and or- 
gan. And Zillah, she also bare Tubal-cain, an instructor of ev- 
ery artificer in brass and iron : and the sister of Tubal-cain was 
JVaamah. And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah y 
Hear my voice ; ye wives of Lamech, hearketi unto my speech : 
for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my 

2 Tabari, caps, xxxix. xl. 



Xli.] LAMECH. 97 

hurt. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lantech seventy- 
fold." ' 

The speech of Lamech points to a tradition unrecorded in 
the Sacred Text, with which the Israelites were probably well 
acquainted, and which therefore did not need repetition ; or 
else, there has been a paragraph dropped out of the original 
text. The speech is sufficiently mysterious to raise our curi- 
osity. Whom had Lamech slain ? and why should Lamech be 
avenged ? 

The Targums throw no light on the passage, merely para- 
phrasing it, without supplying the key to the speech of La- 
mech. 2 But Rabbinic tradition is unanimous on its signifi- 
cation. The book Jasher says that in those days men did not 
love to have children, therefore they gave their wives drink to 
make them sterile. Zillah had taken this drink, and she was 
barren till in her old age she bare Tubal-cain and Naamah. 
Now Lamech became blind in his old age, and he was led 
about by the boy Tubal-cain. Tubal-cain saw Cain in the dis- 
tance, and supposing from the horn on his forehead that he was 
a beast, he said to his father, " Span thy brow and shoot ! " 
Then the old man discharged his arrow, and Cain fell dead. 

But when he ascertained that he had slain his great' ances- 
tor, he smote his hands together, and in so doing, by accident 
struck his son and killed him. Therefore his wives were wroth 
and would have no communication with him. But he ap- 
peased them with the words recorded in Genesis. 3 The same 
story is told in the book of the " Combat with Adam." 

Some Jewish writers adopt a tradition that Tubal-cain was 
not slain, but was severely injured by his father ; according to 
some, he was lamed. Connecting this tradition with his name, 
a striking analogy springs up between him and the Vulcan of 
classic antiquity, and the VOlundr of Norse mythology. Both 
were lame, both were forgers of iron, and the names Vulcan 
and VOlundr bear some affinity to Tubal-cain ; for cutting off 
Tu, we have Balcain or Vulcan. A very learned and exhaust- 
ive monograph on Volundr has been written by MM. Depping 
and Michel. 4 

1 Gen. iv. 18-24. * Targums, ed. Etheridge, i. p. 173. 

3 Yaschar, tr. Drach, p. 1092 ; the same in Midrash Jalkut, c. 3b ( 
Midrash, Par. Beny-ehith, fol. 2 ; Rabbi Raschi on Genesis ; etc., etc. 

4 Veland le Forgeron ; Paris, 1833. There is an English translation 
by Wright. 



.98 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xm. 

Tubal is said by Tabari to have discovered the art of fer 
meriting the juice of the grape, as well as that of music. Eblis 
deceived the young man, who was full of gayety, and taught him 
many things, amongst others how to make wine. Tubal took 
grapes and crushed them, and made must, and let it grow bit- 
ter. Then he took it and put it in a glass jug. He made 
flutes, lutes, cymbals, and drums. When he began to drink the 
wine he had made, he jumped and danced. All the sons of 
Cain looked on, and, pleased with his merriment, they also 
drank and played on the instruments Tubal had made. 1 

Naamah, the sister of Tubal-cain, became the wife of the 
devil Schomron, by whom she became the mother of Asmo- 
deus. 2 

XIII. 
METHUSELAH. 

It is related that an angel appeared to Methuselah, who 
was then aged five hundred years, and lived in the open air, 
and advised him to build a house. The Patriarch asked how 
long he had to live. " About five hundred years more," an- 
swered the angel. " Then," said Methuselah, " it is not w r orth 
taking the trouble for so short a time." 3 

"Methuselah," says the Midrash, " was a thoroughly right- 
eous man. Every word that fell from his lips was superlative- 
ly perfect, exhausting the praises of the Lord. He had learnt 
nine hundred chapters of the Mischna. At his death a fright- 
ful thunder was heard, and all beasts burst into tears. He 
was mourned seven days by men, and therefore the outbreak 
of the Flood was postponed till the morning was over." 4 

Eusebius says, " He lived longer than all who had preced- 
ed him. He, according to all editions (of the LXX.), lived 
fifteen years after the Deluge, but where he was preserved 
through it is uncertain." 5 

But the general opinion of the Jews follows the Midrash. 
The Rabbi Solomon says, he died seven days before the Flood \ 
and the Pirke of Rabbi Eliezer and the Jalkut confirm this 

1 Tabari, i. c. xxi. * Eisenmenger, ii. p. 416. 

3 Colin de Plancy, p. 102. 

4 Midrash, fol. 12 ; so also Targum of Palestine, Etheridge, i. p. 179. 
*> Chron. Graec., ed. Scaliger, Lugd. Batav. 1606, p. 4. 



xiv.] NOAH. 99; 

opinion. He is said to have pronounced three hundred and 
thirty parables to the honor of the Most High. But the origin 
of this is to be traced to the Cabbalists, who say that, by trans- 
position of the letters of his name, the anagram " He who 
prophesied in parables " can be read. 1 

He had a sword inscribed with the Schem hammphorasch 
(the Incommunicable Name), and with it he succeeded in slay- 
ing a thousand devils. 2 



XIV. 
NOAH. 

The earth being filled with violence, God resolved on its 
destruction, but Noah, the just, He purposed to save alive. 

On the words of Genesis, " All flesh had corrupted his way 
upon the earth" the Rabbi Johanan taught that not only was 
the race of men utterly demoralized, but also all the races of 
animals. 3 

Noah and his family, and one pair of all the beasts of earth, 
were to be saved in the ark, but of every clean beast seven 
were to enter in. Falsehood hastened to the ark and asked to 
be admitted ; Noah refused. " I admit the animals only in 
pairs," said he. 

Then Falsehood went away in wrath, and met Injustice, who 
said — 

"Why art thou so sad?" 

" I have been refused admittance into the ark, for I am sin- 
gle," said Falsehood; "be thou my companion." 

" See, now," answered Injustice, "I take no companionship 
without prospect of gain." 

" Fear not," said Falsehood, " I will spread the toils and 
thou shalt have the booty." 

So they went together to the ark, and Noah was unable to 
refuse them admission. And when the Flood was passed and 
the beasts went forth out of the ark, Falsehood said angrily, 
" I have done my work and have caused evil, but thou hast all 
the plunder ; share with me." 

1 Fabricius, i. p. 225. 2 Eisenmenger, i. p. 651. 

8 Talmud, Tractat. Sanhedrin, fol. 108, col. 1. So also the Book Yas 
char, p. 1097. 



IO o OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xiv. 

" Thou fool ! " angered Injustice, " dost thou forget the 
agreement ? Thine it is to spread the net, mine alone to take 
the spoil." x 

At the time of the Deluge the giants were not all drowned, 
for Og planted his foot upon the fountains of the great deip, and 
with his hands stopped the windows of heaven, or the water 
would have risen over his head. The Rabbi Eliezer 2 said 
that the giants exclaimed, when the Flood broke out, " If 
all the waters of the earth be gathered together, they will only 
reach our waists ; but if the fountains of the great deep be bro- 
ken up, we must stamp them clown again." And this they did, 
but God made the waters boiling hot, and it scalded them so 
that their flesh was boiled and fell off their bones. 3 But 
what became of Og in the Deluge we learn from the Talmud. 4 
He went into the water along with a rhinoceros 5 beside 
the ark, and clung to it; now the water round the ark 
was cold, but all the rest was boiling hot. Thus he was saved 
alive, whereas the other giants perished. 

According to another authority, Og climbed on the roof of 
the ark ; and on Noah attempting to dislodge him, he swore 
that, if allowed to remain there, he and his posterity would 
be the slaves of the sons of Noah. Thereupon the patriarch 
yielded. He bored a hole in the side of the vessel, and passed 
through it every day the food necessary for the giant's consump- 
tion. 6 

It is asserted by some Rabbinic writers that the Deluge did 
not overflow the land of Israel, but was partial ; some say the 
Holy Land was alone left dry, and a rhinoceros had taken ref- 
uge on it and so escaped being drowned. But others say that 
the land of Israel was submerged, though all agree that the 
rhinoceros survived without having entered the ark. And they 
explain the escape of the rhinoceros in this manner. Its head 
was taken into the ark, and it swam behind the vessel. Now 
the rhinoceros is a very large animal, and could not be admit- 
ted into the ark lest it should swamp it. The Rabbi Jannai 
says, he saw a young rhinoceros of a day old, and it was as big 
as Mount Tabor ; and Tabor's dimensions are forty miles. Its 

1 Jalkut, Genesis, fol. 14a. 

2 Jalkut Shimoni, Job. fol. 121, col. 2. 

3 Eisenmenger, i.. p. 385. The Targum of Palestine says the water 
was hot (i. p. 179). 

4 Tractat. Sevachim, fol. 113, col. 2. 

6 Or, a unicorn ; the Hebrew word is Reem. 6 Midrash, fol. 14. 



xiv.] NOAH. ioi 

neck was three miles long, and its head half a mile. It drop- 
ped dung, and the dung choked up Jordan. Other commen- 
tators object that the head was too large to be admitted into the 
ark, and suppose that only the tip of its nose was received. 
But as the ark swayed on the waters, Noah tied the horn of the 
rhinoceros to the side of the vessel, lest the beast's nose should 
slip off in a lurch of the ark, and so the creature perish. 

All this is from the Talmud. 

Let us now turn to some of the Mussulman legends of 
Noah. His history is briefly related in the Koran, in the 
chapter entitled " Hud.'' 

" Noah built the ark with our assistance and that of the 
angels, following the knowledge we revealed to him, and we 
said to him : Speak no more in behalf of the sinners ; they 
shall all be drowned. 

"Whilst Noah was building his ark, all those who passed 
by mocked him ; but he said to them : Though you rail at me 
now, the time will come when I shall rail at you ; for you will 
learn to your cost, Who it is that punishes the wicked in this 
world, and reserves for them a further punishment in the world 
to come." 

In the annals of Eutychius of Alexandria, who wrote in 
Egypt in the tenth century, and who probably quoted from 
apocryphal documents now perished, we read that, before the 
Flood broke out, Noah made a bell of plane wood, about five 
feet high, which he sounded every day, morning, noon, and 
evening. When any one asked him why he did so, he re- 
plied, " To warn you that God will send a deluge to destroy 
you all." 

Eutychius adds some further particulars. 

" Before they entered the ark," says he, " Noah and his 
sons went to the cave of Elcanuz, where lay the bodies of 
Adam, Seth, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Methuselah, and 
Lamech. He kissed his dead ancestors, and bore off the body 
of Adam together with precious oblations. Shem bore gold ; 
Ham took myrrh ; and Japheth incense. Having gone forth, 
as they descended the Holy Mount they lifted their eyes to 
Paradise, which crowned it, and said, with tears, ' Farewell ! 
Holy Paradise, farewell ! ' and they kissed the stones and em- 
braced the trees of the Holy Mount." ' 

1 Eutych, Patriarcha Alex., ed. Selden, i. p. 36. 



102 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS, [xiv 

Ibn Abbas, one of the commentators on the Koran, adds, 
that Noah being in doubt as to the shape he was to give to 
the ark, God revealed to him that it was to be modelled on 
the plan of a bird's belly, and that it was to be constructed 
of teak wood. Noah planted the tree, and in twenty years it 
grew to such a size that out of it he was able to build the 
entire ark. 1 

To return to the Koran. 

" When the time prescribed for the punishment of men was 
arrived, and the oven began to boil and vomit, we said to 
Noah : Take and bring into the ark two couples of every kind 
of animal, male and female, with all your family, except him 
who has been condemned by your mouth, and receive the 
faithful, and even the unbelievers ; but few only will enter." 

The interpreters of the Koran say that the ark was built in 
two years. They give it the dimensions mentioned in Genesis : 
— three stages, that on the top for the birds, the middle one 
for the men and the provisions, whilst the beasts occupied the 
hold. The sign of the outburst of the Flood was that water 
flowed out of *he burning oven of Noah's wife. Then all the 
veins and arteries of the earth broke and spirted out water. 
He who was excluded was Canaan, the son of Ham, whom he 
had cursed. But Abulfeda says that it was Jam, a fourth son 
of Noah, who was excluded from the ark. 2 The Persians say 
that Ham incurred his father's malediction as well, and, for 
that, he and his posterity became black and were enslaved ; 
but that Noah, grieved fpr his son's progeny, prayed God to 
have mercy on them, and God made the slave to be loved and 
cherished by his master. 

The Koran says, " Noah having entered the ark with his 
wife (Noema, daughter of Enoch, according to the Yaschar , 
Noria, according to the Gnostics ; Vesta, according to the 
Cabbalists), and his three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and 
their wives, the three daughters of Eliakim, son of Methuselah, 
he said to those who dwell on the earth, ' Embark in the name 
of the Lord.' 

" And whilst he thus spake, the ark advanced or halted, 
according to his order, in the name of God." 

But the Yaschar says that the ungodly dwellers on the 
earth, finding the Flood rising, hastened in such crowds to the 

1 Tabari, p. 108. 2 Abulfeda, p. 17. 



xiv.] NOAH. 103 

ark, that they would have overfilled it, had not the lions and 
other animals within defended the entrance and repulsed 
them. 1 

According to some Oriental traditions, Noah embarked at 
Koufah ; according to others, near where Babylon was after- 
wards erected ; but some say in India ; and some affirm that 
in the six months during which the Deluge lasted, the ark 
made the circuit of the world. 2 

Noah, seeing that his grandson Canaan was not on board, 
called to him, and said, " Embark, my child, and do not re- 
main among the ungodly." 

But Canaan replied, "I will ascend the mountains, and 
shall be safe there." 

"Nothing can save thee to-day but the mercy of God," 
said Noah. 

Whilst thus speaking, a wave rushed between them and 
submerged Canaan. 

After forty days, the ark swam from one end of the earth 
to the other, over the highest mountains. Over Mount Kubeis, 
chosen by God in which to preserve the sacred black stone of 
the Kaaba, the ark revolved seven times. 8 

Tabari says that Noah had four sons, and that of these 
Canaan was the youngest, and that the three elder believed 
in his mission, but his wife and Canaan laughed at his predic- 
tions. The animals that were brought into the ark were col- 
lected and wafted to it by the wind. When the ass was about 
to enter, Eblis (Satan) caught hold of its tail. The ass came 
on slowly ; Noah was impatient, and exclaimed, " You cursed 
one, come in quick." 

When Eblis was within, Noah saw him, and said, " What 
right have you in here ? " 

" I have entered at your invitation," answered the Evil One. 
"You said, ' Cursed one, come in;' I am the accursed one." 

When six months had passed, the ark rested on the sur- 
face of the water above Djondi, 4 and the rain ceased to fall, 
and God said to the earth, "Suck in the water;" and to the 
sky, "Withhold thy rains." The water abated; and the ark 
lodged on the top of the mountain. 

" There left the ark two sorts of animals which had not 
entered it — the pig and the cat. These animals did not exist 

1 Yaschar, p. 1100. 2 Colin de Plancy, p. no. 

8 Weil, p. 45. * Ararat. 



I0 4 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xit. 

before the Deluge, and God created them in the ark because 
it was full of filth and human excrements, which caused a 
great stench. The persons in the ark, not being able to en- 
dure any longer the smell, complained to Noah. Then Noah 
passed his hand down the back of the elephant, and it evacu- 
ated the pig. The pig ate all the dung which was in the ark,, 
and the stench was no more. 

" Some time after the rats gave great annoyance. They ate 
the food, and befouled what they did not eat. Then the voy- 
agers went to Noah, and said to him, You delivered us in our 
former difficulty, but now we are plagued with rats, which 
gnaw our garments, eat our victuals, and cover every thing 
with their filth. Then Noah passed his hand down the back 
of the lion, who sneezed, and the cat leaped out of its nose. 
And the cat ate the rats- 

"When Noah had left the ark, he passed forty days on the 
mountain, till all the water had subsided into the sea. All 
the briny water that is there is what remains from the Flood. 

"Noah said to the raven, Go and place your foot on the 
earth and see what is the depth of the water. The raven de 
parted ; but, having found a carcase, it remained to devour it, 
and did not return. Noah was provoked, and he cursed the 
raven, saying, May God make thee contemptible among men 
and let carrion be thy food ! 

" After that Noah sent forth the dove. The dove depart- 
ed, and, without tarrying, put her feet in the water. The wa- 
ter of the Flood scalded and pickled the legs of the dove. It 
was hot and briny, and feathers would not grow on her legs 
any more, and the skin scaled off. Now, doves which have 
red and featherless legs are of the sort that Noah sent forth. 
The dove returning showed her legs to Noah, who said, May 
God render thee well-pleasing to men ! For that reason the 
dove is dear to men's hearts." x 

Another version of the story is this. Noah blessed the 
dove, and since then she has borne a neck-ring of green feath- 
ers ; but the raven, on the other hand, he cursed, that its flight 
should be crooked, and never direct like that of other birds. 2 
This is also a Jewish legend. 3 

After that, Noah descended the mountain along with the 
eighty persons who had been saved with him, and he found 

1 Tabari, c. xli. 2 Weil, p. 45. 3 Midrash, fol. 15. 



*iv.l NOAH. io j 

that not a house was left standing on the face of the earth. 
Noah built a town consisting of eighty houses, — a house apiece 
for all who had been saved with him. 1 

Fabricius, in his collection of apocrypha of the Old Testa- 
ment, has published the prayer that Noah offered daily in the 
ark, beside the body of Adam, which he bore with him, to 
bury it. on Golgotha. 

" O Lord, Thou art excellent in truth, and nothing is great 
beside Thee ; look upon us in mercy ; deliver us from this 
deluge of water for the sake of the pangs of Adam, the first 
man whom Thou didst make ; for the sake oi the blood of 
Abel, the holy one ; for the sake of just Seth, in whom Thou 
didst delight ; number us not amongst those who have broken 
Thy commandments, but cover us with Thy protection, for 
Thou art our deliverer, and to Thee alone are due the praises 
uttered by the works of Thy hands from all eternity." And 
all the children of Noah responded, "Amen, O Lord." 2 

Noah is said to have left the ark on the tenth day of the 
first month of the Mussulman year, and to have instituted the 
fast which the Mahommedans observe on that day, to thank 
God for his deliverance. 

According to the Book of Enoch, the water of the Flood 
was transformed by God into fire, which will consume the 
world and the ungodly, at the consummation of all things. 3 

The Targum of Palestine says that the dove plucked the 
leaf she brought to Noah from off a tree on the Mount of 
Olives. 4 

The Book Jasher supplies an omission in Genesis. In 
Genesis it is said of Lamech, on the birth of Noah, " He called 
his name Noah ; saying, This same shall comfort us concerning 
our work and toil of our hands , because of the ground which the 
Lord hath cursed ; " 5 but Noah signifies rest, not comfort. The 
Book Jasher says that the Methuselah called the child Noah, 
rest, because the land rested from the curse ; but Lamech call- 
ed him Menahem, comfort, for the reason given in the text of 
Genesis. The sacred writer has given one name with the sig- 
nification of the other. 6 

1 Tabari, p. 113. 2 Fabricus, i. pp. 74, 243. 

3 Ed. Dillmann, c. 67. 4 Ed. Etheridge, i. p. 182. 5 Gen. v. 20. 
6 In the Midrash Rabba, this want of connection between the name 
and the signification is remarked upon, and Solomon Jarki in his commen- 
tary says that, for the meaning assigned, the name ought to have been, not 
Noah, but Menahem. 

5* 



Io6 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



XV. 
HEATHEN LEGENDS OF THE DELUGE. 

Ararat has borne this name for three thousand years. 
We read in the Book of Genesis that " the ark rested, in the 
seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the 
mountains of Ararat" In passages of the Old Testament, as 
in Isaiah xxxvii. 38 and 2 Kings xix. 37, mention is made of 
a land, in Jeremiah li. 27 of a kingdom, of Ararat ; and we are 
likewise informed by Moses of Chorene, the first authority 
among Armenian writers, that an entire country bore this name 
after an ancient Armenian king, Arai the Fair, who lived about 
1750 years before Christ. He fell in a bloody battle with the 
Babylonians on a plain in Armenia, called after him Arai-Arat, 
the Fall of Arai. 

Before this event the country bore the name of Amasia, 
from its sovereign, Amassis, the sixth in descent from Japheth> 
who gave the name of Massis to the mountain. This is still 
the only name by which it is known to the Armenians ; for, 
though it is called Ararat in the Armenian edition of the Old 
Testament, yet the people call it Massis, and know no other 
name for it. The Mussulmans call it Agridagh, the strong 
mountain. The name by which it is known to the Persians 
is Kuhi-Nuh, the mountain of Noah, or Saad-dagh, the Blessed 
Mountain. 1 

But tradition is not at one as to the peak on which the ark 
rested, or from which Noah descended, as we shall presently 
see. Ararat is 17,210 feet in altitude above the sea, and 
14,320 feet above the plain of the Araxes. On the north- 
eastern slope of the mountain, even from a distance, may be 
seen a deep, gloomy chasm, which gives the appearance as if 
the mountain had been rent asunder at the top : this was prob- 
ably at some remote period the volcanic vent, for the moun- 
tain is composed of tufa, scoria, and erupted matter. It 
shoots up in one rigid crest, and then sweeps down towards 

1 Buttmann, Ueber der Mythus d. Sundfluth, Berlin, 1819 ; Luken 
Die Traditionen des Menschengeschlechts, Munster, 1856 ; Bryant, Of the 
Deluge in Ancient Mythology, London, 1775, etc. 






XV.] HEATHEN LEGENDS OF THE DELUGE. 107 

Little Ararat, the second summit, which stands 13,000 feet 
above the sea. 1 

The people of the neighborhood point to a step on the 
mountain side, covered with perpetual snow and glacier, and 
where, say they, the ark rested ; and to a town near Ararat 
named Naktschiwan, or "the first outgoing" of Noah from the 
ark. This etymological interpretation is probably as question- 
able as that of Ararat given by Moses of Chorene ; it is true 
the city is ancient, for it was severely injured by an earthquake 
in the reign of Astyages the Median, in the sixth century be- 
fore Christ. It is called Naxuana by Josephus, 2 and he says it 
was so called because there Noah first descended from the 
ark, and that remains of the ark were there to be seen care- 
fully preserved. And there, says the Armenian historian 
Vartan, is also the tomb of Noah. Nicolas of Damascus, in 
his History of Syria, Berosus the ancient Babylonian writer 
and other heathen historians, tell a similar tale ; and we learn 
that relics of the ark were distributed thence, and were re- 
garded with the utmost reverence, as amulets. 

Nicolas of Damascus, who wrote in the reign of Augustus, 
says, " There is beyond the Minyadian land a great mountain 
in Armenia, Baris by name (perhaps for Masis), on which, as 
the tradition says, some one sailing over it in an ark, lodged 
on the topmost peak. The remains of the wood continued to 
exist long. Perhaps this may be the same as he of whom 
Moses, the Jewish historian, has written." 3 

The story quoted by Eusebius from an ancient writer 
named Molo, gives a form of the Syrian tradition. " After the 
Deluge, the man who with his sons escaped the flood, went 
out of Armenia, after he had been driven out of his inheritance 
by the violence of the natives. He came thence into the moun- 
tains of Syria, which were then uninhabited." 4 And with this 
agrees a curious allusion in Lucian, who was himself a Syrian. 
He says that there was in Syria, in the city Hierapolis, a re- 
ligious festival, and a very ancient temple, connected " with 
the popular story of Deucalion the Scythian, who lived at the 
time of the great Deluge." It is curious that he should give 
to the Syrian Noah the Greek name, and that he should speak 
of him as not a native, but as coming from the East, from Scy- 

1 Parrot, Journey to Ararat, English Trans. Lond. 1845. 

2 Joseph. Antiq., i. 3 ; see also Ptolem. Geogr. vi. 2. 

8 Joseph. Antiq., i. 4. 4 Euseb. Praep. Evang. ix. 19. 



108 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xr, 

thia. He says : " Of this Deucalion have I heard in Greece, 
what the Greeks relate. The story is this : The present race 
of men is not the first, for that perished. This is the second 
race which sprang from Deucalion, and was very numerous. 
The earlier generation was very evil, and violated the Divine 
law. They neither kept oaths nor showed hospitality ; they 
took not the stranger in, nor protected him when he sought 
protection ; therefore a terrible destruction fell upon them. 
Much water gushed out of the earth, great rains poured down, 
and the sea rose and overwhelmed the earth. Deucalion alone 
of all men was preserved to another generation on account of 
his wisdom and piety. He was thus saved. He went into a 
great ark which he had built, along with his wife and children. 
Then came to him, pair by pair, cows, horses, lions, serpents, 
and all kinds of animals which are nourished on earth, and he 
took them all in. They did not hurt him, for Zeus ordained 
a great friendship amongst them. So they all sailed in the ark 
as long as the flood lasted. This is the Greek story of Deu- 
calion. 

" But very wonderful is the confirmation of the history as 
it is related in Hierapolis. In the neighborhood of that city 
a great chasm opened which engulphed all the waters of the 
Flood. Thereupon Deucalion erected altars, and dedicated a 
temple to Here (Atergatis) over the chasm. I have seen this ; 
it is very small : whether it was once large but has since be- 
come smaller, I cannot say; but I saw that it was small. For 
the confirmation of the history the following takes place : twice 
in the year the sea-water is brought into the temple. Not only 
do the priests bear it, but all Syria and Arabia, and many from 
beyond Euphrates, come and carry water. They pour it out 
in the temple ; then it runs down into the chasm, and, though 
it may be very small, it takes in all the water poured into it. 
This they do, say they, because Deucalion instituted this rite 
as a memorial of his deliverance, and of the mercy of God." 1 

Equally fully has the Babylonian tradition reached us from 
the Chaldee history of the old priest of Bel, Berosus (b. c. 260). 
The Chaldees had placed ten kings at the head of this mystic 
history, which answer to the ten generations in Genesis before 
the Flood. The last of these patriarchs was called Xisuthrus, 
who is the same as the Biblical Noah. Berosus relates the 

1 Lucian, De Dea Syra, c. 12, 13. 






XV.] THE DELUGE. 1 09 

story of the Deluge thus : " Under the reign of Xisuthrus there 
was a great flood. Kronos (#. e., Bel) appeared to Xisuthrus 
in a dream, and warned him that all men would be destroyed 
by a deluge on the 15th of the month Daesios, and he command- 
ed him to write down all the learning and science of men, and 
to hide it in the sun-city Siparis, and then to build a ship and 
to enter it along with his family and relatives and nearest friends, 
and to take into it with him food and drink, and beasts and 
winged fowl. When he was asked whither he was about to 
sail, he was bidden reply : To the gods, to pray them that men 
may prosper. He obeyed ; and made an ark five stadia long 
and two wide, laid in what was commanded, and sailed with 
his wife and child and relatives. When the flood abated, Xis- 
uthrus sent out a bird which, as it found no food nor ground 
on which to perch, returned to the ship. After a day, he sent 
out another bird ; this came back with mud on its feet. The 
third bird he sent out did. not return. So Xisuthrus knew 
that the land appeared, and he broke a hole in the ship and 
saw that the ship was stranded on a mountain ; so he disem- 
barked with his wife and daughter and steersman ; and when 
he had adored the earth, raised an altar, and offered to the 
gods, he vanished. Those who remained in the ship also went 
out, when they saw that Xisuthrus did not return, to seek Xis- 
uthrus, and they called him by name. But Xisuthrus appear- 
ed again no more, only his voice was heard bidding them fear 
God, and telling them that he had taken to dwell with the 
gods, because he was pious. The same honor was accorded 
to his wife and daughter and to the steersman." This refers 
to their being set in the sky as constellations : Xisuthrus as 
the water-bearer, the virgin, and steersman still occupy their 
places there. " He bade them," continues Berosus, " return 
to Babylon, and, as Fate decreed, take his writings out of Si- 
paris, and from them instruct men. The place where they 
found themselves was Armenia. Some fragments of the ship 
remain on the mountains of the Kordyaeans in Armenia, and 
some take away particles and use them as amulets." * 

Eusebius has preserved a fragment of another Babylonian 
writer, Abydenos, which gives the same story precisely. 2 

Another Chaldee tradition preserved by Cassian is that, 

1 Georg. Syncellus, Chronographia, p. 29, B., ed. Bonn ; or Cory's An- 
cient Fragments, p. 26 et seq. 

9 Praep. Evang. ix. 12 ; see also S. Cyril contra Julian, i. 



HO OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xv. 

before the Flood. Ham concealed in the ground treaties of 
witchcraft and alchemy, and that, when the water abated, he 
recovered them. 1 According to Berosus also, Xisuthrus had 
three sons, — Zerovanos, Titan, and Japetosthes. Zerovanos is 
the same as Zoroaster. 

From Phrygia also come to us traces of a Diluvian tradi- 
tion. A number of coins of Apamea, a city of Phrygia, be- 
tween the rivers Maeander and Marsyas, of the period of 
Septimius Severus and the following emperors, possibly bear 
reference to this event. 2 One, a coin of Philip, bears on the 
reverse something like a box, containing a man and woman ; on 
the panel of the box, under the man, is written "'Noe," the dove 
is bringing the olive branch, and thb raven is seated on the 
edge of the box above the head of the female figure. The same 
two persons are also represented on dry land, with the right 
hand uplifted in the attitude of prayer. Another coin with 
the same subject, on the reverse has, inscribed on the ark, 
NHTHN. 

To elucidate these coins, reference is made to a passage in 
the Sibylline Oracles to this effect : " In Phyrgia lies steep, to 
be seen from afar, a mountain, named Ararat. . . . Therefrom 
streams the river Marsyas ; but on its crest rested the ark 
(HifjGoroi) when the rain abated." 3 As the ancient name of 
Apamea seems to have been Kibotos, it is not unlikely that 
the Sibylline writer mixed together in those lines the Mosaic 
and the Phrygian traditions. 

It must, however, be admitted that it is quite as probable 
that the box represents a temple, and the two figures tutelary 
deities, and that the " Noe " is a contraction for " Neocoros," 
the most important title assumed by Greek cities, and often 
recorded on their coins. 

The ancient Persian account in the Bundehesch is this : — 
" Taschter (the spirit ruling the waters) found water for thirty 
days and thirty nights upon the earth. Every water-drop was as 
big as a bowl. The earth was covered with water the height 
of a man. All idolaters on earth died through the rain ; it 
penetrated all openings. Afterwards a wind from heaven 
divided the water and carried it away in clouds, as souls bear 

1 Bochart, Geogr. Sacra, p. 231. 

2 Ekhel, Doctrina Numm. Vet. iii. p. 132 et seq. ; see also Bryant's 
New System of Ancient Mythology, Lond. 1775, i. note 3. 

3 Orac. Sibvll, i. v. 260, 265-7. Ed. Fiedlieb. 



xv. J THE DELUGE. HI 

bodies ; then Ormuzd collected all the water together and 
placed it as a boundary to the earth, and thus was the great 
ocean formed." J 

The ancient Indian tradition is, " that in the reign of the 
sun-born monarch Satyavrata, the whole earth was drowned, 
and the whole human race destroyed by a flood, except the 
pious prince himself, the seven Rishis and their several wives/' 
This general pralaya, or destruction, is the subject of the 
first Purana, or sacred poem ; and the story is concisely told 
in the eighth book of the Bhagavata, from which the following 
is an abridged extract : — " The demon Hayagriva having pur- 
loined the Vedas from Brahma while he was reposing, the 
whole race of man became corrupt, except the seven Rishis 
and Satyavrata This prince was performing his ablutions in 
the river Critamala, when Vishnu appeared to him in the shape 
of a small fish, and after several augmentations of bulk in 
different waters, was placed by Satyavrata in the ocean, when 
he thus addressed his amazed votary : — ' In seven days all 
creatures who have offended me shall be destroyed by a deluge ; 
but thou shalt be secured in a capacious vessel miraculously 
formed. Take, therefore, all kinds of medicinal herbs and 
esculent grain for food, and together with the seven holy men, 
your respective wives, and pairs of all animals, enter the ark 
without fear ; then shalt thou know God face to face, and all 
thy questions shall be answered.' Saying this, he disappeared ; 
and, after seven days, the ocean began to overflow the coasts* 
and the earth to be flooded by constant showers, when Satya- 
vrata, meditating on the Deity, saw a large vessel moving on 
the waters : he entered it, having in all respects conformed to 
the instructions of Vishnu, who, in the form of a large fish, 
suffered the vessel to be tied with a great sea-serpent, as with 
a cable, to his measureless horn. When the deluge had 
ceased, Vishnu slew the demon and recovered the Vedas, and 
instructed Satyavrata in divine knowledge." 2 

The Mahabharata says that the boat containing Manu and 
his seven companions rested on Mount Naubhandanam, the 
highest peak of the Himalayas ; and the name Naubhandanam 
signifies " ships stranding." 3 

1 Bundehesch, 7. 

3 On the Chronology of the Hindus, by Sir W. Jones ; Asiatic Re- 
searches, ii. pp. 1 16-7. 

8 Bopp, Die Siindfluth ; Berlin, 1829, p. 9. 



112 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xv 

The Greek traditions are not early, and were probably bor-" 
rowed from Semitic sources. We have seen the story told by 
Lucian in his book " De Dea Syra," but in his " Timon " he 
follows the more authentic Greek legend, and makes Deuca- 
lion escape in a little skiff (consequently without the animals), 
and land on Mount Lycoris. 

We have also the same catastrophe somewhat differently 
related by Ovid. The world he represents "as confederate in 
crime," and doomed therefore to just punishment. Jupiter 
sends down rain from heaven, and rivers and seas gushing 
forth from their caves gather over the earth's surface, and 
sweep mankind away. Deucalion and his wife alone, borne in 
a little skiff, are stranded on the top of Parnassus. By degrees, 
the waters subside : the only surviving pair inquire of the gods 
how they may again people the desert earth. They are or- 
dered, with veiled heads, to throw behind them the bones of 
their great mother. Half doubtful as to the meaning of the 
oracle, they throw behind them stones, which are immediately 
changed into men and women, and the earth spontaneously 
produces the rest of the animal creation. 1 

Apollodorus relates the matter thus : — " When Zeus deter- 
mined to destroy the brazen race, Deucalion, by the advice of 
Prometheus, made a great ark, Aapva£, and put into it all ne- 
cessary things, and entered it with Pyrrha. Zeus then, pour- 
ing down heavy rains from heaven, overwhelmed the greater 
part of Greece, so that all men perished except a few who fled to 
the highest mountains. He floated nine days and nights in the 
sea of waters, and at last stopped on Mount Parnassus. Then 
Zeus sent Hermes to ask him what he wished, and he solicited 
that mankind might be made again. Zeus bade him throw 
stones over his head, from which men should come, and said 
that those cast by Pyrrha should be turned into women." 

Stephanus of Byzantium says that the tradition was that 
after the surface of the earth became dry, Zeus ordered Pro- 
metheus and Athene to make images of clay in the form of 
men ; and when they were dry, he called the winds and made 
them breathe into each, and rendered them vital : and thus the 
earth after the Flood was repeopled. 2 Diodorus says, " In the 
Deluge, which happened in the time of Deucalion, almost all 
flesh died." 3 

1 Ovid. Metam. i. 240 et seq. 2 Steph. Bryzant., s. voce Ikoviov. 
3 Diocl. Sicul. lib. i. 



xv.] THE DELUGE. n 3 

The Chinese begin their dynasties with Jao, the last of the 
old race, whose words are thus recorded in the Schu-Kiug : — 
" The mighty waters of the flood spread themselves out, and 
overflowed, and drowned every thing. The mountains disap- 
peared in the deep, and the hills were buried beneath them. 
The foaming billows seemed to threaten heaven. All people 
were drowned." x An ancient inscription, which the Chinese 
attribute to Yu, the third patriarch after the Flood, and which 
at least dates from before Christ, refers to this event : — " The 
illustrious Emperor Jao said, sighing, ' Companions and coun- 
sellors ! The great and little territories up to the mountain's 
peak, the homes of birds, and wild beasts, were overflowed far 
and wide. Long had I forgotten my home ; now I rest upon 
the mountain top of Jo-lu. . . . The trouble is over, and the 
misfortune is at an end ; the streams of the south flow, clothes 
and food are before us. The world is at rest, and the flying 
rain cannot again destroy us/ " 2 

In one of the writings of the disciples of Tao-tse, the tradi- 
tion takes a fuller form. Kung-Kung, a bad spirit, enraged at 
having been overcome in war, gave such a blow against one of 
the pillars of the sky with his head that he broke it ; and the 
vault of heaven fell in, and a tremendous flood overwhelmed the 
earth. But Niu-Noa overcame the water with wood, and made 
a boat to save himself, which could go far ; and he polished 
a stone of five colors — the rainbow — and therewith he fastened 
the heavens, and lifted them up on a tortoise shell. Then he 
killed the black dragon Kong-Kong, and choked the holes in 
heaven with the ashes of a pumpkin. 3 In the story of Jao there 
is also a faint trace of his connection with the rainbow, for he 
is said to have eyebrows colored and shaped like rainbows. 4 

The Kamskadales say, " that in the remote ages when their 
great ancestor and God, Kutka, lived in Kamschatka, there 
was a mighty deluge. Many men were drowned therein, but 
some tried to save themselves in boats, but the waves over- 
whelmed them. Those who were saved were rescued on great 
rafts made of trees bound together, to which they retreated, 
taking food and their property with them. And that they might 
■not drift out to sea, they anchored themselves with great stones, 

1 Mem. concernant les Cliinois, i. p. 157. 

2 Klaproth, Inschrift, des Yu ; Halle, 181 1, p. 29. 

3 Mem. concernant les Chinois, ix. p. 383. 

4 Mart. Martinii, Hist. Sin. p. 26. 



114 0LD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xv. 

which they tied to the edges and let down into the water. And 
when the flood abated, they rested on the top of a high moun- 
tain." ' 

A Lapp tradition is that God once submerged the world, 
saving only one brother and sister alive, whom He placed on 
Mount Passeware. When the water disappeared, the children 
separated to wander over the earth, and see whether they alone 
remained alive. They met after three years, and then separa- 
ted again, for they recognized one another as brother and sis- 
ter. After three years they met, but turned their backs on one 
another once more for the same reason. Again they met after 
the lapse of three years, and again they parted ; but when they 
met again, after three years' further absence, they no longer rec- 
ognized each other, and so they took one another in mar- 
riage ; and of them all generations of men are come. 2 

Among the Kelts, the Deluge formed a prominent feature, 
and the ark was connected with their most sacred religious rites. 

A Welsh legend is this : — " One of the most dreadful of 
events was the outbreak of Llyn Llion, the sea of seas, which 
overwhelmed the world and drowned all men except Dwyan 
and Dwyvach, who escaped in a bare boat and colonized Brit- 
ain. This ship was one of the three masterpieces of Hu, and 
was built by the heavenly lord, Reivion ; and it received into 
it a pair of every kind of beasts when the Llyn Llion burst 
forth." Reivion is the same as Hu Cadarn, the discoverer of 
the vine ; and it is said of him that " he built the ark laden with 
fruit, and it was stayed up in the water, and carried forward by 
serpents ; " and of the rainbow it was said, that the Woman of 
the silver wheel, Arianrhod, to control the wizards of night and 
evil spirits of tempest, and out of love to the Britons, " wove 
the stream of the rainbow, — a stream which drives the storm 
from the earth, and makes its former destruction stay far from 
it, throughout the world's circle." 3 

The Norse legend in the younger Edda is, " Bor's sons 
(Odin, ViJj, and Ve) slew the giant Ymir ; and when he fell, 
so much blood (in poetic phraseology Ymir's blood signified 
water) ran out of the wounds, that the whole race of the giants 

1 Steller, Beschreibung v. Kamschatka ; Frankf. 1744, p. 273. 

2 Serres, Kosmoganie des Moses, tibersetzt von F. X. Stech, p. 149. 

8 Davies, Mythology of the British Druids, London, 1809; and Celtic 
Researches, London, 1844: curious works on the Arkite worship and art- 
ditions of the Kelts. 



XV.] THE DELUGE. Hj 

was drowned in it, except one, who with his family escaped ; 
this one was called Bergelmr. He got into a boat along with 
his wife, and was thus saved." ' 

The Lithuanian myth was this: — When Pramzimas, the 
most high God, looked out of his heavenly house upon the 
world through a window', he saw that it was filled with violence. 
Then he sent Wind and Water to devastate the earth, and 
this they did for twenty days and nights. Pramzimas looked 
on, and as he looked on, he ate nuts at his window, and threw 
the shells down. One shell fell on the top of a mountain, and 
some men, women, and beasts scrambled into it and were saved 
alive, while all the rest of the inhabitants of the world were 
drowned. When the flood drained away, the pairs in the nut- 
shell left it, and were scattered over the earth. Only one aged 
couple remained, and they complained ; then God sent them 
the rainbow to console them, and bade them jump over the 
bones of the earth. They jumped nine times, and nine pairs 
of living human beings started to life, and founded the nine 
races of Lithuanian blood. 2 

Among the negroes of Africa, traditions are faint, or have 
been little sought after and collected. The Jumala negroes say 
that once when the earth was full of cruelty and wickedness, 
the good Til destroyed it with fire, and that one man alone was 
saved alive, named Musikdgen, i. <?., the mountain chief, be- 
cause he was found without blame. 

In America the crop of traditions is abundant. 

The Kolosches, living in Russian America, say that the 
first dweller on the earth was Kitkhughia-si, and that he re- 
solved to destroy all his children who sinned against him. 
Thereupon he brought a flood over the land, and all perished 
save a few who escaped in boats to the tops of mountains, 
where, say they, the remains of the boats, and the ropes which 
fastened them, remained to be seen. 3 

Among the Dog-rib Indians, Sir John Franklin found the 
story much more complete ; and as this tribe lives near the 
Polar Sea, far from any mission stations, it is scarcely possible 
that the story can have been derived from Christian teachers. 

1 The prose Edda ; Mallet, Northern Antiq., ed. Bonn, p. 404. 

* Grimm, Deutsche Mythol. ; Gottingen, 1854, p. 545. 

3 The same story precisely, is told by the closely allied race of the 
Chippewas ; Atherne* Jones, Traditions of the North American Indians, 
London, 1830, ii. p. 9 et seq. 



Il6 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xr. 

They say that Tschapiwih, their great ancestor, lived on a track- 
between two seas. He built a weir, and caught fish in such 
abundance that they choked the water- course, and the water 
overflowed the earth. Tschapiwih with his family entered his 
canoe, and took with him all kinds of beasts and birds. The 
land was covered for many days ; at last Tschapiwih could bear 
it no longer, so he sent out the beaver to look for the earth. 
But the beaver was drowned. Then he sent out the muskrat, 
which had some difficulty in returning, but it had mud on its 
paws. Tschapiwih was glad to see the earth, and moulded it 
between his fingers, till it became an island on the surface of 
the water, on which he could land. 1 

The Pacullies, on the west coast of New Georgia, say that 
at the Deluge one man and one woman were saved by escaping 
into a cave ; and they add that when the earth was drowned, 
a water rat dived for it and brought it to the surface again. 2 

A Caddoque tradition is, that Sakechah was a great hunter. 
One night he saw in vision the Master of Life, who spoke to 
the dreamer in these words : — 

" The world is getting very wicked, Sakechah." 

" I know it," answered the hunter. 

'* I hear no longer the voices of men supplicating me for 
favors ; they no longer thank me for what I send them, I 
must sweep, wash, and purify the earth ; I must destroy all 
living creatures from off the face of it." 

Then Sakechah said, " What have I done, Master of Life,, 
that I should be involved in this general destruction ? " 

The Master answered, " No, Sakechah, thou hast been a. 
good servant ; I will except thee from the general doom. Go 
now, cut thee a hemlock, knock off the cones, and bring them, 
together with the trunk and leaves, to the bottom of the hill 
Wecheganawan. Burn them in a fire made of the dry branches 
of the oak, kindled with the straw of wild rice. When the 
heap is reduced to ashes, take the ashes and strew them in a. 
circle round the hill. Nothing need be gathered within the 
circle, for the living creatures will of themselves retreat to it. 
for safety ; but when this is done, take the trunk of the hemlock, 
and strike it into the earth at the spot where the large tuft of 
grass is growing on the barren hill. There lies the great 
fountain of water ; and when the staff is struck into the earth 

1 Ltitke, Voyage autour du Monde, i. p. 189. 

2 Braunfchweig, Die alten Amerik. Denkmaler ; Berlin, 1840, p. 18. 



xv.] THE DELUGE. Iiy 

the fountain shall burst forth, and the earth be swept and 
washed and purified by the great deluge that shall overwhelm 
it. Sakechah and his family shall alone, of all the inhabitants- 
of the earth, be saved ; and the creatures he assembles around 
him on the hill Wecheganawan be alone those exempted from 
the all-sweeping destruction. ,, 

The hunter obeyed. He took the staff and stuck it deep 
into the earth at the place indicated, and the great fountain 
was broken up, and the waters burst forth in a mighty volume. 
Slowly the element began to creep over the earth, while the 
hunter and his family looked on. Now the low grounds ap- 
peared but as they appear in the season of showers \ here a 
little water, and there a little water ; soon they became one 
vast sheet. Now a little hill sank from view, then the tops of 
trees disappeared ; again a tall hill hid its head. At length 
the waves rose so high that Sakechah could see nothing more ; 
he stood as it were in a well. The waters were piled up on 
every side of him, restrained from harming him, or his, or the 
beasts that had clustered around him, by the magic belt of 
hemlock ashes. 

" Sakechah ! " said the Master of Life, "when the moon is 
exactly over thy head,_ she will draw the waters to the hilL 
She is angry with me because I scourged a comet. I cannot 
prevent her revenge unless I destroy her, and that I may not 
do, as she is my wife. Therefore bid every living creature that 
is on the hill take off the nail from the little finger of his right 
hand, if a man ; if a bird, or beast, of the right foot or claw. 
When each has done this, bid him blow in the hollow of the nail 
w r ith the right eye shut, saying these words, ' Nail become a ca- 
noe, and save me from the wrath of the moon.' The nail will 
become a large canoe, and in this canoe will its owner be safe." 

The Great Spirit was obeyed, and shortly every creature 
was floating in a boat on the surface of the water. And, lest 
they should be dispersed, Sakechah bound them together by 
thongs of buffalo-hide. 

They continued floating for a long time, till at last Sakechak 
said, " This will not do — we must have land. Go," said he to 
a raven that sat in his canoe near him, " fetch me a little earth 
from the bottom of the abyss. I will send a female, because 
women are quicker and more searching than men." 

The raven, proud of the praise bestowed on her sex, left 
her tail feathers at home, and dived into the abyss. She wa& 



o8 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xv. 

gone a long time, but, notwithstanding her being a woman, she 
returned baffled of her object. Whereupon Sakechah said to 
the otter, " My little man, I will send you to the bottom, and 
see if your industry and perseverance will enable you to 
accomplish what has been left undone by the wit and cunning 
of the raven." So the otter departed upon his dangerous 
expedition. He accomplished his object. When he again 
appeared on the earth, he held in his paw a lump of black 
mud. This he gave into the hands of Sakechah ; and the 
Great Master bade him divide the lump into five portions ; that 
which came out of the middle of the lump he was commanded 
to mould into a cake and to cast into the water : he did so, 
and it became dry land, on which he could disembark ; and the 
earth thus formed was repeopled from his time. No matter 
whether the men of the earth be red or white, all are descended 
from Sakechah. 1 

The Iroquois tell a very similar story, differing from the 
above in merely a few trivial particulars. According to the 
tradition of the Knistineaux on the Upper Missouri, all men 
perished in the Deluge except one woman, who caught the leg 
of a bird which carried her to the top of a rock, where she 
was confined of twins, of whom the earth was peopled. 2 

The Appalachian tribe in Florida is a relic of a more an- 
cient nation than the North American Indian tribes. They 
relate that the lake Theomi burst its bounds, and overflowed 
the earth, and stood above the top of the highest mountains, 
saving only the peak Oldamy, on which stood a temple to the 
sun. Those men who had succeeded in reaching this temple 
were saved, but all the rest perished. 3 

According to the Cherokees, a dog foresaw the destruction 
that was coming on the earth. It went every day to the bank 
of a river and howled ; and when its master rebuked it, it re- 
vealed to him what was about to take place. The man there- 
fore built a boat and entered it with his family, and he alone 
of all mankind was saved/ 

If we turn to Central America, we find that there also 
traditions of the Flood abounded. 

1 Atherne Jones, Traditions of the North American Indians, ii. 21-33. 

2 Catlin, Letters and Notes on the Manners, etc., of the N. American 
Indians ; London, 184 1. 

3 Mayer, Mytholog. Taschenbuch ; Weimar, 1811, p. 245. 

4 Schoolcraft, Notes on the Iroquois ; New York, 1847, p. 358 






XV.] THE DELUGE. H^ 

The ancient inhabitants of Mexico related the event a5* 
follows : — 

There was a great deluge which destroyed all men and 
beasts, save Coxcox and his wife Chichequetzal, who escaped 
in a Cyprus trunk and landed on Mount Colhuacan, where 
they became parents of many children, who, however, were 
all dumb. Then appeared a dove, which seated itself on a 
high tree, and taught them language. But as none of them 
understood the speech of the other, they separated and dis- 
persed over the world. Fifteen heads of families, however, 
had the good fortune to speak the same language. These 
lived together in the same place, but at last they moved, and 
after 104 years of wandering they settled in Aztlan. Thence 
they journeyed to Chiapultepeque, and then returned to the 
Mount Colhuacan and settled in Mexico. 1 

There was a story of similar description connected with the 
ancient city of Cholula in the modern province of Puebla. 
" Before the great flood in the year 4,008 after the creation of 
the world, the land Anaknac (Mexico) was peopled with giants. 
All those who did not perish, with the exception of seven, es- 
caped into holes, and were transformed into fish. When the 
deluge was over, one of these giants, Xelhuaz by name, the 
builder, went to Cholula, and built a pyramid on Mount Tlalok, 
to commemorate his having been saved thereon along with his 
six brothers." 2 

The inhabitants of Mechoacan related that, on account of 
the iniquity of men, a flood was sent to sweep them all away ^ 
but a priest, named Tezbi, along with his wife and children, 
were saved in a box of wood into which they had entered along 
with all kinds of seeds and animals. After some time Tezbi r 
wearying of his confinement, sent forth the vulture, which how- 
ever did not return to him ; then he sent forth other birds, but 
they did not come back ; finally, he sent out the Colibri, which 
returned with a branch in its beak. 3 And of this event they 
had paintings in their temples which they showed to the white 
men who arrived amongst them. 

1 Miiller, Geschichte des Amerikanischen Urreligionem, Basle, 185 5,. 
p. 515 ; LUken, Die Tradition em des Menschengeschlechts, p. 223. 

9 Humboldt, Anh. des Cordilleren, i. p. 42. 

a Antonio de Herrera, Hist, general de los Hecos, etc. ; Madrid, 1601* 
iii. c. 10. 



12 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xv. 

The Indians in Cuba told a similar story, so did those at 
St. Domingo and the Antilles. 1 

Nor is South America without a rich crop of similar le- 
gends, Humboldt says, " This belief (in a deluge) is not found 
merely among the Tamanaks, but is a portion of a whole sys- 
tem of historical traditions of which the scattered accounts are 
to be gathered from the Maipures of the Great Cataract, the 
Indians of Rio-Crevato, which pours into the Cauca, and al- 
most from all the races in the Upper Orinoko." 2 

This is the tradition of the Tamanaks. " At the time of 
our ancestors the whole earth was overflowed. Then two per- 
sons alone were saved, a man and a woman, who remained on 
Mount Tamanaku, which is not far from the Cucivero river, 
where our ancestors formerly dwelt. They lamented sore over 
the loss of their friends and relations, and as they wandered 
.sadly about the mountain they heard a voice which told them 
to cast the kernels of the nuts of the Palma Mauritia back- 
wards over their shoulders. They did so, and out of the nuts 
cast by the woman rose females, and out of those cast by the 
man sprang males." 3 

The Peruvians related that their first king and founder of 
their nation, Manco Capak, along with his wife Mama Ocllo, 
after the great deluge left their land, and came from the holy 
Island in the lake Titicaca, on which the sun cast its first beam 
when the flood drained away. 4 

A Brazilian legend is that the Evil Spirit Arbomoku, and 
the spirits of the air, made a compact together to destroy man- 
kind. The former opened all the fountains of the earth, the 
latter poured the clouds upon the ground and inundated it, so 
that only one mountain-top appeared above the water, and on 
that took refuge two persons, a brother and a sister, from whom 
all the new generations sprang. 5 

1 Compare Liiken and M tiller. 

* Humboldt, Reise in die Aequinoctial Gegenden, iii. pp. 406-7. 

* Nachrichten aus dem Lande Guiana, v. Salvator Gili ; Hamb. 1785 
pp. 440-1, quoted by Liiken. 

1 Garcilasso de la Vega, Hist, des Yncas ; Amst., i. pp. 73 and 326. 
1 Ausland, Jan. 1845, No. I. 



XV.] THE DELUGE. I2F 

XVI. 
THE PLANTING OF THE VINE. 

Bowed under his toil, dripping with perspiration, stood the 
patriarch Noah, laboring to break the hard clods. All at once 
Satan appeared and said to him, — 

" What new undertaking have you in hand ? What new fruit 
do you expect to extract from these clods ? " 

" I plant the grape," answered the patriarch. 

" The grape ! proud plant, most precious fruit ! joy and de- 
light to men ! Your labor is great ; will you allow me to as- 
sist you ? Let us share the labor of producing the vine." 

The patriarch in a fit of exhaustion consented. 

Satan hastened, got a lamb, slaughtered it, and poured its 
blood over the clods of earth. " Thence shall it come," said 
Satan, "that those who taste of the juice of the grape, shall 
be soft-spirited and gentle as this lamb." 

But Noah sighed ; Satan continued his work ; he caught a 
lion, slew that, and poured the blood upon the soil "prepared 
for the plant. " Thence shall it come," said he, " that those 
who taste the juice of the grape shall be strong and courageous 
as the lion." 

Noah shuddered. Satan continued his work ; he seized a 
pig and slaughtered it, and drenched the soil with its blood. 
" Thence shall it come," said he, " that those who drink of the 
juice of the grape in excess, shall be filthy, degraded, and 
bestial as the swine." ' 

The Mussulman tradition is somewhat similar. 

" When Ham had planted the vine, Satan watered it with 
the blood of a peacock. When it thrust forth leaves, he 
sprinkled it with the blood of an ape ; when it formed grapes, 
he drenched it with the blood of a lion ; when the grapes were 
ripe, he watered it with the blood of a swine. 

" The vine, watered by the blood of these four animals, has 
assumed these characters. The first glass of wine makes a 
man animated, his vivacity great, his color is heightened. In 
this condition he is like the peacock. When the fumes of the 
liquor rise into his head, he is gay, leaps and gambols as an 

1 Jalkut, Genesis, fol. 16 a. 



122 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xvi 

ape. Drunkenness takes possession of him, he is like a furi- 
ous lion. When it is at its height, he is like the swine ; he 
falls and grovels on the ground, stretches himself out, and 
goes to sleep." 1 

Mohammed, to justify his forbidding his disciples to drink 
wine, cites the history of the two angels, Arot and Harot. 

" God," says he, " charged them with a commission on the 
earth. A young lady invited them to dinner, and they found 
the wine so good that they got drunk. They then remarked 
that their hostess was beautiful, and they were filled with love 
which they declared to her. This lady, who was prudent, re- 
plied that she would only listen to their protestations when she 
lenew the words by which they were enabled to ascend to 
heaven. When she had learned these words, she mounted to 
the throne of God, who, as a reward for her virtue, transformed 
her into a shining star (the Morning Star), and condemned the 
two drunken angels to aw 7 ait the day of judgment, suspended 
by their heels in the well of Babel, near Bagdad, which Mus- 
sulman pilgrims visit." 

According to Tabari, 2 Ham, for having laughed at his fa- 
ther's drunkenness, was cursed by Noah, that his skin should 
become black, as well as all the fruits which were to grow in 
the land he should inhabit, and thus the purple grape arose. 
It was the white grape that Ham transplanted, but it black- 
ened in his hands. 

Abulfaraj relates that after the Deluge, Noah divided the 
habitable world between his sons. He gave to Ham the 
country of the Black, to Shem that of the Brown, and to Ja- 
pheth that of the Red. 3 Noah also, he continues, said to his 
son Shem, " When I am dead, take the bier of our father Adam 
from the ark, and, together with your son Melchizedek, who 
is a priest of the Most High, go with the body of Adam whither 
an angel shall guide you." 

This they did ; and an angel directed them to mount Breital- 
makdes (Jerusalem), where they deposited the bier on a cer- 
tain hill, and instantly it sank out of their sight into the ground. 
Then Shem returned to his home, but not so Melchizedek, 
who remained to guard the body of Adam : and he built there 
a city called Jerusalem, and he was called Melek Salim, the 
King of Peace, and there he spent the rest of his life in the 

1 Colin de Plancy, p. 1 2 1. 2 Tabari, i. c. xli. 

8 Hist. Dynastiarum, ed. Pocock ; Oxon., 1663, p. 9. 



xvi.] THE VINE, 12 j 

worship of God ; he touched not women, nor shed blood, but 
offered to God oblations of bread and wine. 1 

Eutychius, the Egyptian patriarch of Alexandria, in his 
Annals, which are rife with Oriental traditions, gives a fuller 
account of the same incident. 

When Noah was near his death, he bade Shem take the 
body of Adam, and go with Melchizedek, son of Peleg, whither 
the angel of the Lord should lead. " And," said he, "thou 
shalt enjoin on Melchizedek to fix his habitation there, to take 
to him no wife, and to spend his life in acts of devotion, for 
God has chosen him to preserve His true worship. He shall 
build himself no house, nor shall he shed blood of beast, or 
bird, or any animal ; nor shall he offer there any oblation save 
bread and wine ; and let the skins of lions be his only vesture ; 
he shall remain alone there ; he shall not clip his hair, or pare 
his nails ; for he is a priest of the Most High. The angel of 
God shall go before you, till ye come to the place where ye 
shall bury the body of Adam, and know that that place is the 
middle of the world." Now Noah died on Wednesday, at the 
second hour, in the second month of Ayar, which is the same 
as Bashnes, in the nine hundred and fiftieth year of his age. 
And this year Shem was aged forty-five. The sons of Noah 
buried him, and bewailed him forty days. 2 

The wife of Noah is said by some to have been called 
Bath-Enos, or the daughter of Enos ; but the Rabbi Gedaliah 
says her name was Noema ; others say it was Tethiri, or Ti- 
thcea, the nurse of men, as Eve was the mother of men. The 
Gnostics called her Noria. She is, however, generally sup- 
posed by the Rabbis to have been Naamah, the sister of Tu- 
bal-cain. 3 But Eutychius, of Alexandria, says she was called 
Haical, and was the daughter of Namus, son of Enoch ; and 
that the wives of Shem, Ham, and Japheth were the three 
daughters of Methuselah. Shem's wife was named Salith ; 
the wife of Ham, Nahlath ; and the wife of Japheth, Arisivah. 4 

The nurse of Noah was an important personage, and must 
not be forgotten. She was named Sambethe, and was the 
first Sibyl. Suidas, the grammarian, says, "The Chaldee 
Sibyl, named Sambethi by the Hebrews, and identified with 

1 Hist. Dynastiarum, ed. Pocock ; Oxon., 1663, p. 10. 

2 Eutychius, Patr. Alex., Annal., t. i. p. 44. 
s Bereschith Rabba, fol. 22, col. 4 

4 Eutych. Annal., ed. Selden, i. p. 35. 



S24 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xvn. 

the Persian Sibyl, was of the race of Noah. She foretold 
those things which were to befall Alexander of Macedon. She 
also predicted the coming of the Lord Christ, and many other 
things, through divine inspiration." 1 



XVII. 
THE SONS OF NOAH. 

Ham, the accursed, the third son of Noah, was the inventor 
or the preserver of magic. As we have already seen, he bur- 
ied the books of magic which existed in the world, before the 
Deluge swept over the globe ; and when it abated he exhumed 
them. Cerco d'Ascoli, in the fourth chapter of his " Commen- 
tary on the Sphere of Sacrabosco," declares that he had seen 
a book of magic which had been composed by Ham, " which 
contained the elements and practice of necromancy." Cer- 
tain it is that apocryphal books of alchemy and conjuration of 
spirits existed in the Middle Ages, which purported to have 
been composed by Ham. 

Ham was turned black, according to the Talmud, because 
he did not maintain himself in perfect continence whilst in the 
ark ; 2 other authorities say his skin became sooty in conse- 
quence of his scoffing at his father's drunkenness ; and Japheth, 
for having smiled, says the Mussulman lost the gift of prophe- 
cy from his family. 3 

Berosus supposed that Ham was the same as Zoroaster. 

Japheth, according to Khondemir, was given by his father 
all the land tq the east and north of Ararat ; he was the progen- 
itor of the Turks, the Sclaves, of Gog and Magog, says Ta- 
bari. Before he started with his family to people these coun- 
tries, Noah gave him a stone, on which was written the great 
name of God. The Turks say that, by means of this stone, 
Noah was able to guide the course of the ark without sail or 
oars. The Turks have similar stones, which, they pretend, 
came by a process of generation from the parental stone given 
to Japheth. 4 He is said by the Mussulmans to have had eleven 
male children : Sin or Tchin, the father of the Chinese ; Scklab, 
the ancestor of the Sclavonian races ; Manschug or Magog, the 

1 Suidas, Lexic. s. v. ISifivWa,* Tract. Sanhedrin, fol. 108, col. 2. 
3 Tabari, i. p. 115. * Colin de Plancy, p. 224. 



J 



xvit.] THE SONS OF NOAH. l2 ^ 

parent of the Scythians and Kalmuks ; Gomari, the father of 
the Franks ; Turk and Khalos, the ancestors of the Turks ; 
Khozaz, from whom the Khozarans trace their pedigree ; Rus, 
father of the Russians ; Souffan, Ghoy, and Tarag, from whom 
the Turcomans derive. 

Ilak, son of Turk, discovered the use of salt by having let 
fall a piece of meat he was eating on the ground covered with 
saline deposit. 

Of Shem the Rabbis have somewhat to say. "I have 
found in the Midrash that the Rabbi Johanan, son of Nuri, 
said : ' The holy, ever-blessed God took Shem, son of Noah, 
and consecrated him priest of the Most High, that he should 
minister before Him : and He let his Majesty dwell with Him, 
and He gave him the name Melchizedek, a priest of the Most 
High God, king of Salem. His brother Japheth learnt the 
law of him in his school, till Abraham came, who learnt it in 
the school of Shem. For this Abraham obtained, praying to 
God that his Majesty should remain and dwell in the house 
of Shem, wherefore it was said of him, Thou art a priest forever 
after the order of Melchizedek? " x 

Shem learned his knowledge from the Book of Wisdom 
which Raphael, the holy angel, gave to Adam ; but Shem's in- 
structor was the angel Jophiel. 2 

The Rabbi Gerson writes in his book called " Sepher geli- 
loth erez Israel," that having travelled through the lands of Og, 
king of Bash an, he saw there a grave which measured eighty 
ells, and it was indicated to him as the sepulchre of Shem. 3 
A curious tradition that Shem, Ham, and Japheth fell asleep 
in a cave, and woke up at the Nativity of Christ, and that they 
were themselves the three wise men who came to adore Him, 
shall be mentioned more fully when we treat of the legends 
connected with the New Testament characters. 

Shem is said to have received the priesthood instead of 
Noah, because Noah was bitten by the lion as he was leaving 
the ark, and, being suffused with blood, became incapable of 
receiving the priesthood. 

Shem is believed to have written many books, and apocry- 
phal writings of his exist. 

1 Eisenmenger, i. pp. 318-9 * Ibid., p. 376. 8 Ibid., p. 395. 



126 OLD TESTAMEN7" CHARACTERS. fxvm. 



XVIIL 
RELICS OF THE ARK. 

We have already seen that Berosus relates how in his time 
portions of the ark were removed, and used a$ amulets. Jose- 
phus says that remains of the ark were to be seen at his day 
upon Ararat ; and Nicolas of Damascus reports the same. 
S. Epiphanius writes : " The wood of the ark of Noah is shown 
to this day in the Kardaen (Koord) country.'' * And he is 
followed by a host of fathers. El Macin, in his History of the 
Saracens, relates that the Emperor Heraclius visited the relics 
after he had conquered the Persians, in the city of Thenia, 
at the roots of Ararat. Haithon, the Armenian, declares that 
upon the snows of Ararat a black speck is visible at all times : 
this is Noah's ark. 2 Benjamin of Tudela, in his Itinerary, 
says that all the wood was carried away by the Caliph Omar, 
in A. d. 640, and was placed by him in a temple or mosque 
he erected in an island formed by the Tigris. One of the 
beams is shown in the Lateran at Rome. In 1670, Johann 
Jansenius Strauss ascended to a hermit's cell on the side of 
Ararat, to bind up the coenobite's leg which was broken. The 
hermit's cell, said Strauss, was five days' journey up the moun- 
tain, athwart three clouds, and above a region of intolerable 
cold, in a calm warm atmosphere. From the account of the 
hermit, Herr Strauss learnt that the old man had dwelt there 
twenty-five years, and that he had felt there neither rain nor 
winds. On the top of the mountain, fifteen Italian miles from 
the cell, through the clear air, was distinguishable the great 
vessel grounded in the snow. The hermit had reached it, and 
of one of its planks had cut a cross, which he exhibited to the 
German traveller. 

In the town of Chenna, in Arabia Felix, says the traveller 
Prevoux, is a large building, said to have been erected by 
Noah ; and a large piece of wood is exhibited through an iron 
grating, which is said to have formed a portion of his ark. 
There is also to be seen at Chenna a well, said to have been 
dug by the patriarch Jacob, of which the water is icy cold. 

The Armenians say that a certain monk, Jacob, once as- 

1 Adv. Haeres., lib. i. 2 De Tartaris, c. 9. 



xix.] CERTAIN DESCENDANTS OF HAM. 127 

cended Ararat, and carried off a fragment of the ark, which he 
made afterwards into a cross, and this is preserved amongst 
the sacred relics of Etchmiadzin. When the Persian king, 
Abassus the great, sent to inquire about the ark, the monks 
replied that it was in vain for him to attempt to reach it, on 
account of the precipices and glaciers, and innumerable diffi- 
culties of the way. 1 



XIX. 
CERTAIN DESCENDANTS OF HAM. 

We shall follow certain Mussulman traditions for what fol- 
lows. Ad, son of Amalek, therefore grandson of Ham, estab 
lished himself in Arabia, where he became chief of the tribe 
of the Adites. He fell into idolatry. He had two sons named 
Schedad and Scheded, who reigned over numerous subjects 
— one for two hundred and fifty, the other for three hundred 
years. They built a superb city, where houses were of sump- 
tuous magnificence ; the like of this city was never seen be- 
fore, nor will be seen again. This city vanished when the tribe 
of the Adites was exterminated ; as we shall relate when we 
give the legends attaching to Heber. The commentators of 
the Koran tell marvels of this wondrous city. 

Under the Khalifate of Moawiyah, first of the Ommiades, 
an Arab of the desert, named Kolabah, going in quest of his 
camel in the plain of Aden, lighted on the gate of a beautiful 
city. He went in, but, being filled with fear, he did not re- 
main there more time than sufficed for him to collect some of 
the stones of the street, and then he returned. 

His neighbors, to whom he relates his adventure, repeated 
it to the Khalif, who ordered Kolabah to be brought before 
him. The Arab related frankly what he had seen, but Moawi- 
yah would not give credence to the marvellous tale, till he had 
consulted his learned men, and especially the illustrious Al- 
Akhbar, who assured him that the story of the poor Arab was 
worthy of all trust, for the city he had seen was none othet 
than that built by Schedad, son of Ad, in the land of the Ad- 
ites in which Aden is situated ; and that, as the pride of this 
prince knew no bounds, God had sent His angel to destroy 
1 Reliquiae Arcse Noae, in Fabricius, i. art. 33. 



I 2 8 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xix. 

all the inhabitants, and conceal their splendid city from the 
eyes of men, to be revealed only at intervals, that the memory 
of God's judgment might not fade out of men's minds. 

Schedad had a son named Dhohak, of whom strange tales 
are told. He knew magic, and gained the sovereignty over 
the entire universe; and he kept his subjects in terror by ex- 
cessive cruelty. In the Caherman-Nameh it is related that 
the Devil, satisfied with his proceedings, offered him his ser- 
vices gratuitously, and they were cheerfully accepted. The 
ferocity of the tyrant increased, he skinned men alive, impaled 
and crucified them on the slightest charges. 

After having served him five years, the Evil One thus ad- 
dressed him : " Sire ! for many years I have been thy faithful 
attendant, neither have I received of thee any recompense. 
Now I beseech of thee one favor — that I may kiss thy shoul- 
ders." 

This favor was readily granted. Dhohak himself plucked 
off his mantle to facilitate the kiss. 

But no sooner had the Devil applied his lips to the two 
shoulders of the tyrant, than two serpents, which could not be 
plucked off, fastened there and began to gnaw his flesh. 

Tabari says that the king bore on his shoulders two fright- 
ful ulcers or cancers, resembling serpents' heads, sent him by 
God as a punishment for his crimes. These cancers caused 
him such acute agony, that he shrieked night and day. No 
one was able to provide a remedy or to abate the torment. 

One night when he was asleep, some one appeared to him 
in a dream, and said, "If you desire your ulcers to give less 
pain, apply to them human brains." 

Next day, Dhohak awoke and ordered two men to be 
brought before him ; he slew them, cut open their skulls, ex- 
tracted the brains and applied them to his cancers. The re- 
lief was instantaneous, and Dhohak felt, for the first time for 
many days, some hours of repose. 

After this, every day two men were killed to form poulti- 
ces for his ulcers. During the two hundred latter years of the 
life of Dhohak, the prisons were emptied to satisfy his require- 
ment for fresh brains ; and when no more criminals could be 
procured, it was made a tribute for his kingdom to render to 
him two men, each day, to be immolated to soothe his pain. 

Now there was at Ispahan a blacksmith, named Kaveh, 
who had two beautiful sons, whom he loved more dearly than 



xix.] CERTAIN DESCENDANTS OF HAM. I29 

his own life. One day they were seized, carried before the 
king, and his shoulders were poulticed with their brains. 

Kaveh was at work at his anvil when the news of the slay- 
ing of his sons reached him. He deserted his anvil ; and ut- 
tering a piercing cry, he rushed into the streets, with his leath- 
ern apron before him, bitterly lamenting his loss, and calling 
for vengeance on the monarch. The people crowded about 
him, they plucked off his leather apron, and converted it into 
a standard. 

The crowd gathered as it advanced. From every street 
men flowed to join the army, and shortly the blacksmith found 
himself at the head of a hundred thousand men. 

They marched to Demavend, where was the palace of the 
tyrant. And Kaveh, before attacking it, thus addressed his 
soldiers, " I am not one to lead you against a king ; you need 
a king to make war against a king." 

"Well," said his followers, "we elect you to be our king/ 

" I am but a simple blacksmith, and am not fit to rule," an- 
swered Kaveh, " but there is a royal prince named Afridoun, 
the son of Djemschid, who is fled from the cruelty of Dhohak : 
choose him." 

They agreed. The prince was found and invested with the 
sovereignty ; then a battle was fought, and Dhohak's army was 
routed, and the tyrant was slain. 

When Afridoun mounted the throne, he named Kaveh gov- 
ernor of Ispahan. And when Kaveh was dead, the king asked 
his children to give him their father's leathern apron. Then, 
having obtained it, he placed it among his treasures, and when- 
ever he went to battle he attached the smith's apron to a tall 
staff, and marched under that banner against his enemies. 

In after years, this leathern apron was studded with pre- 
cious stones, till Omar, despising it, ordered the old piece of 
leather to be burnt ; but Yezdeguerd had already robbed it 
of its gems. 1 

Afridoun exercised the sovereignty during two hundred 
years. He was the first to study astronomy, and he founded 
the science of medicine. He was the first king to ride on an 
elephant. He had three sons, Tur, Salm, and Irad. He loved 
the third son, Irad, more than the two elder, and he gave him 
the sovereignty over Irad, Mosul, Koufa, Bagdad. 

1 Tabari, i. c. xlii. xliii. 

6* 



130 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xx. 

After the death of Afridoun, Tur and Salm marched against 
Irad, defeated him and killed him, saying : " Our father has di- 
vided his inheritance unjustly. He has given to Irad the best 
portion, the centre of the world; as for us, we are cast out to 
its extremities. ,, 

On the death of Tur and Salm, the crown left this family, 
and passed to a king named Cush, who was of the sons of Ham, 
the son of Noah. Cush reigned forty years. After him Ca- 
naan ascended the throne. Cush and Canaan worshipped idols. 
It is said that Nimrod was the son Canaan. When Canaan 
died, Nimrod succeeded nim. Nimrod had a vizir named 
Azar (Terah), son of Nahor, son of Sarough (Serug), who was 
sixth in generation from Noah. This Azar was the father of 
Abraham, the friend of God. 

From the time of the Deluge to the time of Abraham was 
three thousand years. During that period, there was no 
prophet save Hud (Eber), who was sent to the Adites, and 
Saleh, who was sent to the Thamudites. 

We shall relate the history of Hud and of Saleh, and then 
return to that of Nimrod. 1 



XX. 
SERUG. 

" And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg. 

" And Peleg lived thirty years ^ and begat Reu. And Reu lived 
two and thirty years, and begat Serug, And Serug lived thirty 
years, and begat Nahor " 2 

Serug is said to have discovered the art of coining gold and 
silver money. In his days men erected many idols, into which 
demons entered and wrought great signs by them. Samiri 
was king of the Chaldees, and he discovered weights and meas- 
ures and how to weave silk, and also how to dye fabrics. He 
is related to have had three eyes and two horns. 

At the same time Apiphanus was king of Egypt. He built 
a ship, and in it made practical descents upon the neighboring 
people living on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. He was 
succeeded by Pharaoh, son of Saner, and the kings after him 
assumed his name as their title. 8 

1 Tabari, i. c. xliii. 2 Gen. xi. 16, 18, 20, 22. 

3 Abulfaraj, Hist. Dynastiarum, p. 12. 






XX. EBER. 131 

Nahor was the son of Serug. In the twenty-fifth year of his 
life, Job the Just, underwent his trial, according to the opinion 
of Arudha the Canaanite. At that time Armun, king of Ca- 
naan, built the two cities Sodom and Gomorrah, and called 
them after the names of his two sons ; but Zoar he named after 
his mother. At the same time, Murk or Murph, king of Pal- 
estine, built Damascus. 1 



XXI. 
THE PROPHET EBER. 

" Unto Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the broth- 
er of Japheth the elder , even to him were children born. 

" The children of S hem ; — Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad 
and Lud and Aram. 

" And the children of Aram ; — Uz, and Hul, and Gether y and 
Mash. 

" And Arphaxad begat Salah ; and Salah begat Eber" 2 

According to some Mussulman writers, Oudh (Lud), the son 
of Shem, had a son named Ad ; but, according to others, Ad 
was the son of Aram, son of Shem. 

The tribes of Ad and Thamud lived near one another in 
the desert of Hedjaz, in the south of Arabia. The land of the 
people of Ad was nearer Mecca than the valley of Hidjr, and 
the valley of Hidjr is situated at the extremity of the desert on 
the road to Syria. 

Never in all the world were there such great and mighty 
men as the Adites. Each of them was twelve cubits high, and 
they were so strong that if any of them stamped on the ground 
he sank up to his knees. 

The Adites raised great monuments in the land which they 
inhabited. Wherever these Cyclopean edifices exist, they are 
called by the Arabs the constructions of the Adites. 

God ordered the prophet Hud (Eber) to go to the Adites 
and preach to them the One true God, and turn them from 
idolatry. But the Adites would not hearken to his words, and 
when he offered them the promises of God, they said, " What 
better dwellings can He give us than those which we have 

1 Abulfaraj, Hist. Dynastiarum, p. 13. 2 Gen. x. 21-24. 



I3 2 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxx 

made ? " And when he spoke to them of God's threatenings, 
they mocked and said, " Who can resist us who are so strong ? " 

For fifty years did the prophet Hud speak to the Adites, and 
their reply to his exhortations is preserved in the Koran, " O 
Hud, you produce no evidence of what you advance ; we will 
not abandon our gods because of your preaching. We mistrust 
your mission. We believe that one of our gods bears a hatred 
against you." 

Hud replied, " I take God to witness, and you also be wit- 
nesses, that I am innocent of your poly theism." 1 

The words of the Adites, " We believe that one of our gods 
bears a hatred against thee," signified that they believed one of 
their gods had driven him mad. 

During the fifty years that Hud's mission lasted, the Adites 
believed neither in God nor in the prophet, with the exception 
of a very few, who believed in secret. 

At the end of that time God withheld the rain from heaven, 
and afflicted the Adites with drought. All the cattle of Ad died, 
and the Adites fainted for lack of water. For three years no 
rain fell. 

Hud said to the Adites, "Believe in God, and He will give 
you rain." 

They replied, "Thou art mad." But they choose three 
men to send to Mecca with victims ; for the infidels believe in 
the sanctity of Mecca, though they believe not in the One true 
God. 

But Eber said, " Your sacrifices will be unavailing, unless 
you first believe." 

The three deputies started for Mecca with many camels, 
oxen, and sheep, as sacrifices. And when they reached Mecca 
they made friends with the inhabitants of that city, and were 
received with hospitality. They passed their days and nights 
in eating and drinking wine, and in their drunkenness they for- 
got their people, and the mission on which they had been sent. 
The inhabitants of Mecca ordered musicians to sing the afflic- 
tions of the Adites, to recall to the envoys the purpose of their 
visit. Then Lokman and Morthed, two of the deputies, de- 
clared to Qa'il, the third, that they believed in Allah ; and 
they added, "If our people had believed the words of the 
prophet Hud, they would not have suffered from drought," 

1 Koran, Sura xi. verse 57. 






xxi.] EBER. 133 

and Lokman and Morthed were not drunk when they said 
these words. 

Qail replied, " You do not partake in the affliction of our 
nation. I will go myself and will offer the victims." 

He went and led the beasts to the top of a mountain to 
sacrifice them, and turning his face to heaven, he said, " O God 
of heaven, hearken unto my prayer, and send rain on my poor 
afflicted people." 

Instantly there appeared three clouds is the blue sky : one 
was red, one was black, the third was white ; and a voice is- 
sued from the clouds, saying, " Choose which shall descend 
upon thy people." 

Then Qail said within himself, " The white cloud, if it hung 
all day over my nation, would not burst in rain ; the red cloud, 
if it hung over them night and day, would not drop a shower ; 
but the black cloud is heavy with water." So he chose the 
black cloud. 

And a voice cried, "It is gone to fall upon the people." 

Qail returned full of joy, thinking he had obtained rain ; 
but that cloud was big with the judgments of God. Qail told 
what he had done to his companions, Lokman and Morthed, 
but they laughed at him. 

Now the cloud, when it arrived over the land of Ad, was 
accompanied by a wind. And the Adites looked up rejoicing, 
and cried, " The rain, the rain is coming ! " 

Then the cloud gaped, and a dry whirlwind rolled out from 
it, and swept up all the cattle that were in the land, and raised 
them in the air, spun them about, and dashed them lifeless on 
the ground. 

But the Adites said, "Fear not; first comes wind, then 
comes rain. And they rushed out of their houses into the 
fields. Hud thought they were coming forth to ask his assist- 
ance \ but they sought him not. Then the whirlwind caught 
them up and cast them down again. Now each of these men 
was like a palm-tree in statue, and they lay shattered and life- 
less on the sand. 

Hud was saved, along with those who had believed his word. 

Now when the envoys at Mecca heard what had befallen 
their people, they went all three to the summit of the mountain, 
and Lokman and Morthed said to Qail, " Believe." But he 
answered, raising his face and hands to heaven : " O God of 
heaven, if thou hast destroyed my people, slay me also." 



134 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxr 

Then the whirlwind came, and rushed on him, and caught 
him up and cast him down, and he was dead. 

But Lokman and Morthed offered their sacrifice, and a voice 
from heaven said, " What is your petition ? " 

Lokman answered : " O Lord, grant me a long life, that I 
may outlive seven vultures." Now a vulture is the longest- 
lived of all birds ; it lives five hundred years. 

And the voice replied, "However long thy life may be, 
death will close it." 

Lokman said, " I know j that is true." 

Then his prayer was granted. And Lokman took a young 
vulture and fed it for five hundred years, and it died ; then he 
took a second, and at the expiration of five hundred years it 
died also ; and so on till he had reached the age of three 
thousand five hundred years, and then he died also. 

Morthed made his request, and it was, " O Lord, give me 
wheat bread," for hitherto in Ad he had eaten only barley 
bread. So Allah gave Morthed so much wheat, that he was 
able to make bread thereof all the rest of his life. 

Hud lived fifty years with the faithful who had received his 
doctrine, and his life in all was one hundred and fifty years. 
The prophet Saleh appeared five hundred years after Hud ; he 
was sent to the Thamudites. 1 

But there is another version of the story given by Weil. 

Hud promised Schaddad, king of the Adites, a glorious city 
in the heavens, if he would turn to the true God. But the king 
said, " I need no other city than that I have built. My palace 
rests on a thousand pillars of rubies and emeralds ; the streets 
and walls are of gold, and pearl, and carbuncle, and topaz ; and 
each pillar in the house is a hundred ells long." 

Then, at Hud's word, God let the city and palace of 
Schaddad fade away like a dream of the night, and storm and 
rain descended, and night fell, and the king was without home 
in the desert. 2 

Of Lokman we must relate something more. He was a 
great prophet ; some say he was nephew of Job, whose sister 
was his mother ; others relate that he was the son of Beor, the 
son of Nahor, the son of Terah. 

One day, whilst he was reposing in the heat of the day, the 
angels entered his room and saluted him, but did not show 

1 Tabari, i. c. xliv. ; Abulfeda, Hist. Ante Islamica, pp. 19-21. 

2 Weil, pp. 47, 48. 



xxi.] EBER. !35 

themselves. Lokman heard their voices, but saw not their 
persons. Then the angels said to him, — 

" We are messengers of God, thy Creator and ours ; He has 
sent us unto thee to announce to thee that thou shalt be a great 
monarch/' 

Lokman replied, u If God desires what you say, His will 
can accomplish all things, and doubtless He will give me what 
is necessary for executing my duty in that position in which 
He will place me. But if He would suffer me to choose a 
state of life, I should prefer that in which I now am," — now 
Lokman was a slave, — " and above all would I ask Him to en- 
able me never to offend Him ; without which all earthly grand- 
eur would be to me a burden." 

This reply of Lokman was so pleasing to Allah, that He 
gave him the gift of wisdom to such a degree of excellence, 
that he became capable of instructing all men • and this he did 
by means of a great multitude of maxims, sentences, and par- 
bles to the number of ten thousand, each of which is more val- 
uable than the whole world. 1 

When Lokman did not know any thing with which others 
were acquainted, he held his tongue, and did not ask questions 
and thus divulge his ignorance. 

As he lived to a great age, he was alive in the days King 
David. Now David made a coat of mail, and showed it to 
Lokman. The sage had seen nothing like it before, and did 
not know what purpose it was to serve, but he looked knowing 
and nodded his head. Presently David put the armor upon 
him, and marched, and said, " It is serviceable in war." Then 
Lokman understood its object ; so his mouth became unsealed 
and he talked about it. 

Lokman used to say, " Silence is wisdom, but few practise 
it." 2 

Thalebi relates, in his Commentary on the Koran, that 
Lokman was a slave, and that having been sent along with 
other slaves into the country to gather fruit, his fellow-slaves 
ate them, and charged Lokman with having done so. Lokman, 
to justify himself, said to his master, " Let every one of us 
slaves be given warm water to drink, and you will soon see 
who has been the thief." 

1 Herbelot, Biblioth. Orientale, s. v. Lokman. 

2 Tabari, i. p. 432. 



I3 6 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxi. 

The expedient succeeded ; the slaves who had eaten the 
fruit vomited it, and Lokman threw up only warm water. 

The same story precisely is told of ^Esop. 

Lokman is always spoken of as black, with thick lips. He 
is regarded by the Arabs much as is Bidpay by the Indians, and 
^Esop by the Europeans, as the Father of Fable. 



XXII. 
THE PROPHET SALEH. 

The prophet Saleh was the son of Ad, son of Aram, son of 
Shem, and is not to be confused with Saleh, son of Arphaxad. 

The Mussulmans say that he was sent to convert the Tha- 
mudites. 

The Thamudites were in size and strength like their breth- 
ren the Adites, but they inhabited the rocks, which they dug 
out into spacious mansions. They had in the midst of their 
land an unfailing supply of sweet and limpid water. They were 
idolaters. Saleh came armed with the command of Allah to 
these men, and he preached to them that they should turn 
from the worship of stocks and stones to that of the living 
God who made them. 

Now Saleh had been born among the Thamudites, but he 
had never been an idolater. When he was young, the natives 
of the land had laughed at him, and said, " He is young and 
inexperienced ; when he is old, and has grown wiser, he will 
adore our gods." 

When Saleh grew old, he forbade the Thamudites to wor- 
ship idols, and he spoke to them of the true and only God. 

But they said, " What miracle can you work, to prove that 
your mission is from God ? " x 

Then he said, " Oh, my people, a she-camel that shall come 
from God shall be to you for a sign. Let her go and eat on 
the earth, and do her no injury, that a terrible retribution fall 
not upon you." 2 

Now Saleh had asked them what miracle they desired, and 
they had answered, " Bring out of the rock a camel with red 
hair, and a colt of a camel also with red hair ; let them eat 
grass, and we will believe." 

1 Koran, Sura xxvi. v. 153. 9 Ibid, xi. v. 67. 



XXII.] SALEH. 137 

Saleh said to them, " What you ask is easy," and he prayed. 

Then the rock groaned and clave asunder, and there came 
out a she-camel with her foal, and their hair was red, and they 
began to eat grass. 

Then the Thamudites exclaimed, " He is a magician ! " and 
they would not believe in him. 

The camel went to the perpetual fountain, and she drank 
it up, so that from that day forward from their spring they 
could get no water, and they suffered from thirst. 

The Thamudites went to Saleh and said, " We need water ! " 

Saleh replied, " The fountain shall flow one day for you, 
and one day for the camel." 

So it was agreed that the camel should drink alternate days 
with the people of the land, and that alternate days each should 
be without water whilst the other was drinking. 

Then Saleh said, for he saw that the people hated the 
camel and her foal, " Beware that you slay not these animals 
for the day that they perish, great shall be your punishment.' 

The she-camel lived thirty years among the Thamudites, 
but God revealed to Saleh that they were bent on slaying the 
camel, and he said, " The slayer will be a child with red hair 
and blue eyes." 

Now the Thamudites ordered ten midwives to attend on the 
women in their confinement, and if a child were born with the 
signs indicated by the prophet, it was to be destroyed instantly. 

Nine children had thus been killed, and the parents con- 
ceived a deadly animosity against Saleh the prophet, and form- 
ed a design to slay him. 

One of the chiefs among the Thamudites had a son born 
to him with red hair and blue eyes, and the nurses would have 
destroyed it, but the nine men spake to the father of the child, 
and they banded together, and saved the infant. 

Now when this child had attained the age of eleven, he be- 
came great and handsome ; and each of the parents whose 
children had been put to death, when he saw him, said, " Such 
an one would have been my son, had not he been slain at the 
instigation of Saleh." And they combined to put the prophet 
to death. They said among themselves, "We will kill him 
outside the city, and returning, say we were elsewhere when he 
was murdered." 

Having formed this project, they left the city and placed 
themselves under a rock, awaiting his exit from the gates 



138 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxu. 

But God commanded the rock, and it fell and crushed them 
all. 

Next day their corpses were recovered, but the Thamudites 
were very wroth, and said, " Saleh has slain our children, and 
now he slays our men;" and they added, "We will be re- 
venged on his camel." 

But no one could be found to undertake the execution of 
this deed, save the red-haired child. He went to the fountain 
where the camel was drinking, and with one kick he knocked 
her over, and with another kick he despatched her. 

But the foal, seeing the fate of her mother, ran away, and 
the boy with the red hair and blue eyes ran after her. 

Saleh, seeing what had taken place, cried, " The judgment 
of God is about to fall." 

The people were frightened, and asked, " What shall we 
do?" 

" The judgment of God will not fall as long as the colt re- 
mains among you." 

Hearing this, the whole population went in pursuit of the 
young camel. Now it had fled to the mountain whence it had 
sprung, and the red-haired boy was close on its heels. And 
when the young camel heard the shouting of the inhabitants 
of the city, and saw the multitude in pursuit, it stood before 
the rock, turned round, uttered three piercing cries and van- 
ished. 

The Thamudites arrived and beat the rock, but they could 
not open it. Then said Saleh, "The judgment of God will 
fall ; prepare to receive it. The first day your faces will be- 
come livid, the second day they will become black, and the 
third day red." 

Things happened as Saleh had predicted. And when the 
signs befel them which Saleh had foretold, they knew that 
their end was near. The first day they became ash pale, the 
second day coal black, and the third day red as fire, and then 
there came a sound from heaven, and all fell dead on the earth, 
save Saleh and those who believed in him ; these heard the 
sound, but did not perish. 

By the will of God, when the people were destroyed, one 
man was absent at Mecca; the name of this man was Abou- 
Ghalib. When he knew what had befallen his nation, he took 
up his residence in Mecca ; but all the rest perished, as it is 
written in the Koran, " In the morning they were found dead 



xxii.] SALEH, 130 

in their houses, stretched upon the ground, as though they had 
never dwelt there." 

From Saleh to Abraham there was no prophet. At the 
time of that patriarch there was no king over all the earth. 
The sovereignty had passed to Canaan, the son of Cush, the 
son of Ham, who was the son of Noah. 1 

The camel of the prophet Saleh was placed by Mohammed 
in the heavens, together with the ass of Balaam, and other fa- 
vored animals. 

Now wonderful as is this story, it is surpassed by that re- 
lated by certain Arabic historians of the mission of Saleh. 
This we proceed to give. 

Djundu Ibn Omar was king of the Thamudites, a people 
numbering seventy thousand fighting men. He had a palace 
cut out of the face of a rock, and his high priest, Kanuch Ibn 
Abid, had one likewise. The most magnificent building in the 
city was a temple which contained the idol worshipped by the 
people. This idol had the head of a man, the neck of a bull, 
the body of a lion, and the feet of a horse. It was fashioned 
out of pure gold, and was studded with jewels. 

One day, as Kanuch, the high priest, was worshipping in 
the temple, he fell asleep, and heard a voice cry, " The truth 
will appear, and the madness will pass away." He started to 
his feet in alarm, and saw the idol prostrate on the floor, and 
its crown had fallen from its head. 

Kanuch cried out for assistance, and fled to the king, who 
sent men to set up the image, and replace on its head the 
crown that had fallen from it. 

But doubt took possession of the heart of Kanuch ; he no 
longer addressed the image in prayer, and his enthusiasm was 
at an end. The king observed this, and sent two vizirs with 
orders to imprison and execute him. But Allah struck the 
vizirs with blindness, and he sent two angels to transport Ka- 
nuch to a well-shaded grotto, well supplied with all that could 
content the heart of man. 

As Kanuch was nowhere to be found, the king appointed 
his kinsman Davud to be high priest. But on the third day 
he came to the king to announce to him that the idol was 
again prostrate. 

The monarch set it up once more, and Eblis, entering the 

1 Tabari, i. c. xlv. 



I4 o OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxnu 

image, spoke through its mouth, exhorting all men to beware 
of novel doctrines which were about to be introduced. 

Next feast-day Davud was about to sacrifice two oxen to- 
the idol, when one of them opened its mouth, and thus ad- 
dressed him : — 

" Will you sacrifice creatures endued with life by the living 
God to a mass of lifeless metal ? O God, do thou destroy this 
sinful nation ! " And the oxen broke their halters, and ran 
away. 

Horsemen were deputed to pursue and capture them, but 
they escaped, for Allah screened them. 

But God in his mercy resolved to give the Thamudites 
another chance of repenting of their idolatry. 

Raghwah, Kanuch's wife, had shed incessant tears since the 
disappearance of her husband. Allah despatched a bird out 
of Paradise to guide her to the grotto of Kanuch. 

This bird was a raven ; its head was white as snow, its 
back was green as emerald. Its feet were purple ; its beak 
of heaven's blue. Its eyes were gems ; only its body was black, 
for this bird did not fall under the curse of Noah, as it was in 
Paradise. 

It was midnight when the raven entered Raghwah's dark 
chamber, where she lay weeping on a carpet ; but the glory 
of its eyes illumined the whole room, as though the sun had 
suddenly flashed into it. Raghwah rose from her place, and 
gazed in wonder on the lovely bird, which opened its beak and 
said, " Arise and follow me ! God has seen thy tears, and will 
reunite thee to thy husband." 

Raghwah followed the raven, which flew before her, and 
with the light of its eyes turned the night into day. The 
morning star had not risen, when they stood before Kanuch's 
grot. Then cried the raven, " Kanuch, open to thy wife ! " 
and so vanished. 

Nine months after that Raghwah had rejoined her husband, 
she bore him a son, who was the image of Seth, and had on 
his brow the prophetic light; and Kanuch, in the hope of 
drawing him to the knowledge of the true God and to a pious 
life, gave him the name of Saleh (The Blessed). 

Not long after Saleh's birth, Kanuch died ; and the raven 
of Paradise returned to the grotto to lead back Saleh to his 
own people. 






xxn.] SALEH. I4I 

Saleh grew in beauty and strength, to the admiration of his 
mother and all who saw him. 

A war was being waged between the descendants of Ham 
and the Thamudites, and the latter had lost many battles and 
a large portion of their army, when Saleh suddenly appeared 
in the battle-field at the head of a few friends, and, by his per- 
sonal heroism, turned the tide of victory, and routed the 
enemy. 

This success drew upon him the gratitude and love of the 
people, but the envy of the king was kindled, and he sought 
the life of the young prophet. But as often as assassins were 
sent by the king to take his life, their arms shrivelled up, and 
were only restored by the intercession of Saleh. These cir- 
cumstances tended to increase and confirm the number of 
his adherents, so that he was able to build a mosque, and oc- 
cupy with worshippers of the true God one whole quarter of 
the city. 

But one day the king surrounded the mosque with his 
troops, and threatened Saleh and his followers with death if 
they would not work a miracle to prove their worship to be 
the true one. 

Saleh prayed, and instantly the leaves of the date-tree that 
stood before the mosque were transformed into serpents and 
scorpions, which fell ever the king and his soldiers ; whilst 
two doves, which dwelt on the terrace of the mosque, sang 
aloud, " Believe in Saleh, he is a prophet and messenger of 
God ! " 

But Saleh was moved with compassion when he saw the 
anguish of those who had been bitten by the scorpions and 
vipers, and he prayed to God, and the noxious reptiles were 
transformed back again into date-leaves, and those who had 
been stung were made whole. Nevertheless the king hard- 
ened his heart, and continued to worship false gods. 

When Saleh saw the impenitence of the Thamudites, he 
besought God to destroy them ; but an angel appeared to him 
in a cave, and sent him to sleep for twenty years. 

When he awoke he betook himself towards the mosque he 
had built, never doubting that he had slept but a single night. 
The mosque was gone, his friends and adherents were dead or 
dispersed, a few remained, but they were old, and he hardly 
recognized them. Falling into despair, the angel Gabriel 
came to him and said, — 



I4 2 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [ XXIL 

" Thou wert hasty in desiring the destruction of this people, 
therefore God hath withdrawn from thy life twenty years, 
which He has taken from thee in sleep. Now He sends thee 
precious relics wherewith to establish thy mission, to wit, 
Adam's shirt, Abel's sandals, Seth's overcoat, Enoch's seal 
ring, Noah's sword, and Hud's staff." 

Next day, as the king Djundu with his brother Schihab, and 
the priests and the princes of the people formed a procession 
to an idol temple near the town, Saleh ran before the proces- 
sion entered the temple, and stood in the door. 

" Who art thou ? " asked the king in astonishment : for he 
did not recognize Saleh, so greatly had God changed him in 
his sleep of twenty years. 

He answered : "lam Saleh, the messenger of the only 
God, who preached to you twenty years ago, and showed to 
you many signs and wonders, but you would not believe. And 
now once more I appear unto you to give you a proof of my 
mission. Ask what miracle I shall perform and it shall be 
done." 

Then the king said, " Bring me here out of the rock a 
camel one hundred ells long, of every color under the sun, 
whose eyes are like lightning, and whose feet are swifter than 
the wind." 

Saleh consented. Then said Davud, " Let its fore feet be 
golden and its hinder feet silver, its head of emerald and its 
ears of ruby. Let it bear on its hump a tent of silver, woven 
with gold threads and adorned with pearls, resting on four 
pillars of diamonds ! " 

When Saleh agreed to this also, the king added, " And let it 
bring with it a foal like to its mother, just born, and running 
by her side ; then will I believe in Allah, and in thee as His 
prophet." 

" And wilt thou believe too ? " asked Saleh of the high priest. 

" Yes," answered Davud, " if she give milk without being 
milked, cold in summer and warm in winter." 

" And one thing more," threw in the king's brother, Schi- 
hab, " the milk must heal the sick, enrich the poor, and the 
camel must of its own accord go into every house, and fill 
the pails with milk." 

" Be it according to your will," said Saleh. But I warn 
you, — no one must injure the camel, deprive it of its food or 
drink, attempt to ride it, or use it for any other kind of labor." 






xxn.] SALEH, 143 

When they consented, Saleh prayed to God, and the earth 
opened under his feet and a well of fragrant water gushed up, 
and poured over the rock, and the rock was rent, and the 
camel started forth in every particular such as the king and 
his high priest had desired. So they cried, " There is no God 
but God, and Saleh is his prophet." 

Then the angel Gabriel came down from heaven, having 
in his hand a flaming sword, wherewith he touched the camel, 
and she bore instantly a foal like her parent. 

Then the king fell on Saleh's neck, and kissed him and be- 
lieved. But his brother Schihab and Davud attributed all that 
had been done to magic, and they labored to convince the peo- 
ple that the camel was the work of necromancy. 

But as daily the camel gave her milk, and, whenever she 
drank, said her grace with formality, the number of true be- 
lievers increased daily, and the high priest and all the chiefs 
of the infidels resolved on her destruction. Schihab, the king's 
brother, hoping to overturn the king and take his place, by ad- 
hering to the established religion and ignoring all novelties, 
was resolute in his resistance to the true religion. Therefore 
he promised his daughter Raj an in marriage to whosoever 
should kill the wondrous camel. 

Now there was a young man of humble origin, named 
Kaddar, who had long loved the maiden, but had never ven- 
tured to show his passion ; he armed himself with a great 
sword and attacked the camel as it was drinking, in the rear, 
and wounded it in the hock. 

Instantly all nature uttered a piercing cry. Then the youth, 
filled with compunction, ran to the top of a mountain, and 
cried, " God's curse on you, ye sinful people ! " 

Saleh betook himself with the king, who would not be sep- 
arated from him, into the town, and demanded the punishment 
of Kaddar and his accomplices. But Schihab, who in the 
,mean time had seized on the throne, threatened them with 
death, and Saleh, obliged to fly to save his life, had only time 
to speak his threat, " Three days are given you for repentance ; 
after that ye shall be slain." 

Next day every 7 man's face was yellow as the leaves in au- 
tumn, and wherever the wounded camel limped a spring of 
blood bubbled out of the soil. 

On the second day the faces of all were blood-red, and on 
the third they were coal-black. 



I 4 4 0LD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxni.' 

Towards evening the camel spread a pair of scarlet wings 
and flew away, and then mountains of fire were rained from 
heaven on the city, by the hands of 'angels ; and the keepers 
of the fire beneath the earth opened vents, and blew fire from 
below in the form of flaming camels. 

When the sun went down, all that remained of the Thamud- 
ites was a heap of ashes. 

Saleh alone, and the king Djundu, were saved. 1 



XXIII. 
THE TOWER OF BABEL. 

First we will take Jewish traditions, and then Mahomme- 
dan legends. The Rabbis relate as follows : — 

After the times of the great Deluge, men feared a recurrence 
of that great overthrow, and they assembled on and inhabited 
the plain of Shinar. There, they no longer obeyed the gentle 
guidance of Shem, the son of Noah ; but they cast the king- 
dom of God far from them, and choose as their sovereign, Nim- 
rod, son of Cush, son of Ham. 2 Nimrod became very great in 
power. Having been born when his father was old, he was 
dearly beloved, and every whim had been gratified. Cush gave 
him the garment which God made for Adam when he was ex- 
pelled from Paradise, and which Adam had given to Enoch, 
and Enoch to Methuselah, and Methuselah had left to Noah, 
and which Noah had taken with him into the ark. Ham stole 
it from his father in the ark, concealed it, and gave it to his 
son Cush. Nimrod, vested in this garment, was unconquera- 
ble and irresistible. 3 All beasts and birds fell down before 
him, and his enemies were overcome almost without a struggle. 

It was thus that he triumphed over the king of Babylon. 
His kingdom rapidly extended, and he became daily more 
powerful, till at last he was sole monarch over the whole world. 4 

Nimrod rejected God as his ruler; he trusted in his own 
might, therefore it is said of him, " He was mighty in hunting, 
and in sin before the Lord ; for he was a hunter of the sons of 
men in their languages. And he said to them, Leave the judg* 
ments of Shem, and adhere to the judgments of Nimrod." 6 

1 Weil, pp. 48-61 ; Abulfeda, p. 21. 

* Pirke of Rabbi Eliezer, c. xi. 3 Ibid., c. xxiv. 4 Ibid., c xi. 

• Targums, ed. Etheridge, i. p. 187. 



xxiii.] THE TOWER OF BABEL. I45 

But Nimrod was uneasy in his mind, and he feared lest 
some one should arise who would be empowered by God to 
overthrow him ; therefore he said to his subjects, " Come, let 
us build a great city, and let us settle therein, that we may not 
t>e scattered over the face of the earth, and be destroyed once 
more by a flood. And in the midst of our city let us build a 
high tower, so lofty as to overtop any flood, and so strong as 
to resist any fire. Yea, let us do further, let us prop up the 
heaven on all sides from the top of the tower, that it may not 
again fall and inundate us. Then let us climb up into heaven, 
and break it up with axes, and drain its water away where it 
can do no injury. Thus shall we avenge the death of our an- 
cestors. And at the summit of our tower we will place an im- 
age of our god with a sword in his hand, and he shall fight for 
us. Thus shall we obtain a great name, and reign over the 
universe." 

Even if all were not inspired with the same presumption, 
yet all saw in the tower a means of refuge from a future deluge \ 
and therefore they readily fell in with the proposal of the king. 
Six hundred thousand men were set to work under a thousand 
captains, and raised the tower to the height of seventy miles 
(/. ^., fifty-six English miles). A great flight of stairs on the 
east side was used by those carrying up material, and a flight 
on the west side served those who descended, having deposited 
their burdens. If a workman fell down and was killed, no one 
heeded ; but if any of the bricks gave way, there was an outcry. 
Some shot arrows into the sky, and they came down tinged with 
blood, then they shouted and cried, " See, we have killed every 
one who is in heaven." ' Curiously enough a similar story is 
told by the Chinese of one of their earlier monarchs, who 
thought himself so great that he might war against heaven. He 
shot an arrow into the sky, and a drop of blood fell. " So," 
said he, " I have killed God ! " 

At this time Abraham was forty-eight. He was filled with 
grief and shame at the impiety of his fellow-men, and he prayed 
to God, " O Lord! confound their tongues ', for I have spied un- 
righteousness and strife in the city /" 

Then the Lord called the seventy angels who surround His 
throne, that they should confuse the language of the builders, 
so that none should understand the other. 

1 Bechaji, Comm. in i Mos. xi. ; Pirke of R. Eliezer, c. xi. ; Talmud* 
Sanhedrim, 109a ; Tar gums, i. pp. 189-90, etc. 

7 



146 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxin,. 

The angels came down, and cast confusion among the sub- 
jects of Nimrod, and seventy distinct languages sprang up, and 
the men could not understand each other ; so they separated 
from one another, and were spread over the surface of the earth. 
The tower itself was destroyed in part. It was in three por- 
tions : the upper story was destroyed by fire from heaven, the 
basement was overthrown by an earthquake, only the middle 
story was left intact, — how, we are not informed.' 

We will now take the Mussulman tradition. Nimrod, who,, 
according to the Arabs, was the son of Canaan, and brother of 
Cush, sons of Ham, having cast Abraham, who refused to ac- 
knowledge him as supreme monarch of the world, into a burn- 
ing, fiery furnace, from which he issued unhurt, said to his 
courtiers, "I will go to heaven and see this God whom Abra- 
ham preaches, and who protects him." 

His wise men having represented to him that heaven is 
very high, Nimrod ordered the erection of a tower, by which 
he might reach it. For three years an immense multitude of 
workmen toiled at the erection of this tower. Every day Nim- 
rod ascended it and looked up, but the sky seemed to him as 
distant from the summit of his tower as it had from the level 
ground. 

One morning he found his tower cast down. But Nimrod 
was not to be defeated so easily. He ordered a firmer founda- 
tion to be laid, and a second tower was constructed ; but how- 
ever high it was built, the sky remained inaccessible. Then 
Nimrod resolved on reaching heaven in another fashion. He 
had a large box made, and to the four corners he attached gi- 
gantic birds of the species Roc. They bore Nimrod high into 
the air, and then fluttered here and fluttered there, and finally 
upset the box, and tumbled him on the top of a mountain, 
which he cracked by his fall, without however materially in- 
juring himself. 

But Nimrod was not penitent, nor ready to submit to the 
Most High, therefore God confounded the language of his 
subjects, and thus rent from him a large portion of his king- 
dom. 

God sent a wind, says Abulfaraj, which overthrew the Tower 
of Babel and buried Nimrod under its ruins. 3 

1 Talmud, Sanhedrim ; see also the history of Nimrod in Yaschar, pp* 
1 107-8. 2 Herbelot, s. v. Nimroud. 

3 Hist. Dynast., p. 12. 



-xxiii.] THE TOWER OF BABEL. 147 

Of Babel we find fewer traditions preserved amongst the 
.ancient nations, than we did of the Deluge. 

The Zendavesta makes no mention of such an event ; and 
it is equally unknown to the Chinese books, though curiously 
enough, in Chinese hieroglyphics, the tower is the symbol of 
separation. 1 

The Chaldeans, however, says Abydessus, probably quoting 
Berosus, the priest of Bel, related, " That the first inhabitants 
of the earth, glorying in their own strength and size, and de- 
spising the gods, undertook to raise a tower whose top should 
reach the sky in the place where Babylon now stands; but 
when it approached the heavens, the winds assisted the gods, 
and overthrew the work of the contrivers ; and its ruins are 
said to be still in Babylon ; and the gods introduced a diver- 
sity of tongues among men, who till that time had ail spoken 
the same language ; and a war arose between Kronos and Ti- 
tan. The place on which they built the tower is now called 
Eabylon." 2 

Alexander Polyhistor relates the events as follows, and 
quotes the Sibyl. " The Sibyl says, when all men had one 
speech, they built a great tower in order to climb into heaven, 
but the gods blowing against it with the winds, threw it down, 
and confounded the language of the builders ; therefore the 
city is called Babylon." 3 The writings of this Sibyl, common- 
Jy called the Chaldean Sibyl, formed part of the sacred scrip- 
tures of the Babylonians. Eupolemus, quoting apparently 
Syro-phcenician traditions, relates the matter somewhat differ- 
ently. " The city Babylon," says he, " was built after the Del- 
uge by those who were saved. But they were giants, and they 
built the famous tower then. But when this, was overthrown 
by the will of the gods, the giants were scattered over the whole 
lace of the earth." 4 The Armenian tradition recorded by 
Moses of Chorene, is to this effect : " From,them (i. e. y from the 
first dwellers on the earth) sprang the race of the giants, with 
strong bodies and of huge size. Full of pride and envy, they 
formed the godless resolve to build a high tower. But whilst 
-they were engaged on the undertaking, a fearful wind over- 
threw it, which the wrath of God had sent against it, and un- 

1 Memoires cone, les Chinois, i. p. 213. 

3 Euseb., Praep. Ev., ix. 14 ; Cory, Ancient Fragments, pp. 34-50. 

3 George Syncellus, Bibl. Graec, v. p. 178. 

4 Euseb., Praep. Ev., ix. 17. 



148 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS, [xxiii. 

known words were at the same time blown about among men,, 
wherefore arose strife and contention." : 

The Hindu story of the confusion of tongues and the sepa- 
ration of nations is not connected with the erection of a tower,, 
but with the pride of the Tree of Knowledge, or the world 
tree. This tree grew in the centre of the earth, and its head 
was in heaven. It said in its heart, I shall hold my head in 
heaven, and spread my branches over all the earth, and gather 
all men together under my shadow and protect them, and pre- 
vent them from separating. But Brahm, to punish the pride of 
the tree, cut off its branches and cast them down on the earth, 
where they sprang up as Wata trees, and made differences of 
belief and speech and customs to prevail in the earth, to dis- 
perse men over its surface. 2 

The Dutch traveller, Hamel van Gorcum, found a tradition 
of the Tower of Babel, in the seventeenth century, in the Ko- 
rea, in the midst of a sect which had not adopted Buddh- 
ism, but which retained much of the old primitive Schaman- 
ism of the race. They said, " That formerly all men spake, 
the same language, but, after building a great tower, where- 
with they attempted to invade heaven, they fell into confusion 
of tongues." 3 

The Mexican story was, that after the Deluge the sole sur- 
vivors Coxcox and Chichequetzl engendered many children 
who were born dumb, but one day received the gift of speech 
from a dove, which came and perched itself on a lofty tree : 
but the dove did not communicate to them the same language^ 
so they separated in fifteen companies. And Gemelli Carrer. 
and Clavigero describe an ancient Mexican painting represent 
ing the dove with thirty-three tongues, answering to the lan- 
guages and dialects he taught. 4 

At Cholula they related that Xelhuaz began to build a tow- 
er on Mount Tlalok to commemorate his having been saved 
along with his brothers from the Flood. And the tower he 
built in the form of a pyramid. The clay was baked into 
bricks in the province of Tlamanalco, at the foot of the Sierra 
Cocotl, and to bring them to Cholula a row of men was placed, 
that the bricks might be passed from hand to hand. The gods* 

1 Mos. Chorene, i. 9. 

1 Muller, Glauben u. Wissen. d. Hindus ; Mainz, 1822, i. p. 303. 

8 Allgem. Hist. d. Reisen, vi. p. 602. 

4 Luken, p. 287 ; Amerikanische Urreligionen, p. 517, etc. 



xxiv.] THE TOWER OF BABEL. % 49 

saw this building, whose top reached the clouds, with anger 
and dismay, and sent fire from heaven, and destroyed the 
tower. 1 

XXIV. 

ABRAHAM. 2 

I. HIS YOUTH AND EARLY STRUGGLES. 

Abraham or Abram, as he was first called, was the son of 
Terah, general of Nimrod's army, and Amtelai, daughter of 
Carnebo. He was born at Ur of the Chaldees, in the year 
1948 after the Creation. 

On the night on which Abraham was born, Terah' s friends, 
amongst whom were many councillors and soothsayers ofNim- 
rod, were feasting in the house. On leaving, late at night, they 
observed an unusual star in the east ; it seemed to run from 
one quarter of the heavens to another, and to devour four stars 
which were there. All gazed in astonishment on this wondrous 
sight. " Truly," said they, " this can signify nothing else but 
that Terah's new-born son will become great and powerful, will 
conquer the whole realm, and dethrone great princes, and seize 
on their possessions." 

Next morning they hastened to the king, to announce to him 
what they had seen, and what was their interpretation of the 
vision, and to advise the slaughter of the young child, and that 
Terah should be compensated with a liberal sum of money. 

Nimrod accordingly sent gold and silver to Terah, and asked 
his son in exchange, but Terah refused. Then the king sent 
and threatened to burn down and utterly destroy the whole 
house of Terah, unless the child were surrendered. In the 
mean time one of the female slaves had born a son ; this Terah 
gave to the royal officers, who, supposing it to be the son of the 
householder, brought it before Nimrod and slew it. 

Then, to secure Abraham, Terah concealed him and his 
mother and nurse in a cave. 

1 Humboldt, Ansichten d. Cordilleren, i. p. 42. 

' For the Rabbinic traditions relating to Abraham I am indebted to* 
the exhaustive monograph of Dr. B. Beer. " Leben Abraham's nach Auffas- 
sung der jiidischen Sage," Leipzig, 1859, to which I must refer my readers 
for references to Jewish books, which are given with an exactitude which 
leaves nothing to be desired, 



^50 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxiv. 

But there is another version of the story, and it is as fol- 
lows : — - 

Nimrod had long read in the stars that a child would be 
born who would oppose his power and his religion, and would 
finally overcome both. 

Acting on the advice of his wise men, he built a house, sixty 
ells high and eighty ells broad, into which all pregnant women 
were brought to be delivered, and the nurses were instructed to 
put to death all the boys that were born, but to make handsome 
presents to the mothers who were brought to bed of daughters. 

After seventy thousand male children had thus perished, 
the angels of heaven turned to the All Mighty, and besought 
Him with tears to stay this cruel murder of innocents. 

" I slumber not, I sleep not," God answered. " Ye shall 
see that this atrocity shall not pass unpunished." 

Shortly after, Terah's wife was pregnant; she concealed 
her situation as long as was possible, pretending that she was 
ill ; but when she could conceal it no more, the infant crept 
behind her breasts, so that she appeared to every eye as if noth- 
ing were about to take place. 

When the time came for her delivery, she went in fear out 
of the city, and wandered in the desert till she lighted on a 
cave, into which she entered. Next morning she was delivered 
of a son, Abraham, whose face shone, so that the grotto was 
as light as though the sun were casting a golden beam into it. 
She wrapped the child in a mantle, and left it there to the cus- 
tody of God and His angels, and returned home. God heard 
the cry of the weeping infant, and He sent His angel Gabriel 
to the cave, who let the child suck milk out of his fore-finger. 
But according to another account he opened two holes in the 
cave, from which dropped oil and flour to nourish Abraham. 
Others, however, say that Terah visited the cave every day, and 
nursed and fed the child. 

According to the Arab tradition, which follows the Jewish 
in most particulars, the mother, on visiting the cave, found the 
infant sucking its two thumbs. Now out of one of its thumbs 
flowed milk, and out of the other, honey, and thus the babe 
nourished itself: or, say others, from one finger flowed water 
when he sucked it ; from a second, milk ; from a third, honey ; 
from a fourth, the juice of dates ; and from the little finger, 
butter. 1 

1 Weil, p. 69, 



xxiv.] ABRAHAM. 151 

When Abraham had been in the cave, according to some r 
three years, according to others ten, and according to others 
thirteen, he left the cavern and stood on the face of the desert. 
And when he saw the sun shining in all its glory, he was filled 
with wonder, and he thought, " Surely the sun is God the Cre- 
ator ! " and he knelt down and worshipped the sun. But when 
evening came, the sun went down in the west, and Abraham 
said, " No ! the Author of creation cannot set." Now the 
moon arose in the east, and the stars looked out of the firma- 
ment. Then said Abraham, "This moon must indeed be God, 
and all the stars are His host ! " And kneeling down he adored 
the moon. 

But after some hours of darkness the moon set, and from 
the east appeared once more the bright face of the sun. Then 
said Abraham, "Verily these heavenly bodies are no gods,, 
for they obey law : I will worship Him who imposed the law 
upon them." 

The Arab story is this. When Abraham came out of the 
cave, he saw a number of flocks and herds, and he said to his 
mother, " Who is lord of these ? " She answered, " Your father 
Azar (Terah)." "And who is the lord of Azar?" he further 
asked. She replied, " Nimrod." " And who is the lord of 
Nimrod ? " " Oh, hush, my son," said she, striking him on the 
mouth ; " you must not push your questions so far." But it 
was by following this train of thought that Abraham arrived at: 
the knowledge of the one true God. 

Another Rabbinical story is, that Abraham was only ten 
days in the cave after his birth, and then he was able to walk, 
and he left it. But his mother, who visited the grotto, finding 
him gone, was a prey to anguish and fear. 

Wandering along the bank of the river, searching for her 
child, she met Abraham, but did not recognize him, as he had 
grown tall ; and she asked him if he had seen a little baby 
anywhere. 

" I am he whom you seek," answered Abraham. 

" Is this possible ! " exclaimed the mother. " Could you 
grow to such a height, and be able to walk and talk, in ten 
days ? " 

" Yes, mother," answered the youthful prodigy ; " all this 
has taken place that you might know that there is but one 
living and true God who made heaven and earth, who dwells 
in heaven and fills the earth with His goodness. ,, 



152 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxrr. 

" What ! " asked Amtelai, " is there another god besides 
Nimrod ? " 

" By all means," replied the infant son ; " there is a God in 
heaven, who is also the God who made Nimrod. Now go to 
Nimrod and announce this to him." 

Abraham's mother related all this to her husband, who bore 
the message to the king. Nimrod, greatly alarmed, consulted 
his council what was to be done with the boy. 1 

The council replied that he had nothing to fear from an 
infant of ten days, — he, the king and god of the world ! But 
Nimrod was not satisfied. Then Satan, putting on a black 
robe, mingled with the advisers of the monarch and said, " Let 
the king open his arsenal, arm all his troops, and march against 
this precocious infant. This advice fell in completely with 
Nimrod's own personal fears, and his army was marched against 
the baby. But when Abraham saw the host drawn up in bat- 
tle array, he cried to heaven with many tears, and Gabriel 
came to his succor, enveloped the infant in clouds, and 
snatched him from the sight of those who came against him ; 
and they, frightened at the cloud and darkness, fled precipi- 
tately to Babylon. 

Abraham followed them on the shoulders of Gabriel, and 
reaching the gates of the city in an instant of time, he cried, 
" The eternal One is the true and only God, and none other 
is like Him ! He is the God of heaven, God of gods and Lord 
of Nimrod ! Be convinced of this, all ye men, women and 
children who dwell here, even I am Abraham, his servant." 
Then he sought his parents, and bade Terah go and fulfil his 
command to Nimrod. 

Terah went accordingly, and announced to the king that his 
son, whom the army had been unable to capture, had, in a brief 
space of time, traversed a country across which was forty days' 
journey. 

Nimrod quaked, and consulted his princes, who advised him 
to institute a festival of seven days, during which every subject 
and dweller on the face of the earth was to make a pilgrimage 
to his palace, and there to worship and adore him. 

In the mean time Nimrod, being very curious to see Abraham, 

1 The Mussulman history of the patriarch relates that Azar brought 
Abraham before Nimrod and said, " This is thy God who made all things." 
"Then why did he not make himself less ugly?" asked Abraham, — foi 
Nimrod had bad features. 



xxrv.] ABRAHAM. 15 j 

ordered Terah to bring him into his royal presence. The child 
entered the throne-room boldly, and going to the foot of the 
steps which led to the throne, he exclaimed ; " Woe to thee, 
accursed Nimrod, blasphemer of God ! Acknowledge, O 
Nimrod, that the true God is without body, everlasting, never 
•slumbering nor sleeping; acknowledge that He created the 
world, that all men may believe in Him likewise ! " 

At the same moment all the idols in the palace fell, and 
the king rolled from his throne in convulsions, and remained 
in a fit for two hours. 

When he came to himself again, he said to Abraham, " Was 
that thy voice, or was it the voice of God?' ' 

Abraham answered, " It was the voice of the meanest of 
His creatures." 

" Then your God must be great and mighty, and a King 
of kings." 

Nimrod now suffered Abraham to depart, and as his an- 
ger was abated, the child remained in his father's house, and 
no attempts were made against his life. 

Here must be inserted a legend of the childhood of Abra- 
ham, which I have ventured to render into verse. 

THE GIFT OF THE KING. 

Nimrod the Cushite sat upon a throne 
Of gold, encrusted with a sapphire stone, 
And round the monarch stood, in triple rank, 
Three hundred ruddy pages, like a bank 

Of roses all a-blow, 
Two gentle boys, with blue eyes clear as glass, 
And locks as light as tufted cotton grass, 

And faces as the snow 
That lies on Ararat, and flushes pink 
On summer evenings, as the sun doth sink, 
Were stationed by the royal golden chair 
With fillets of carnation in their hair, 
And clothed in silken vesture, candid, clean, 
To flutter fans of burnished blue and green, 

Fashioned of peacock's plume. 
A little lower, on a second stage 
On either side, was placed a graceful page, 

To raise a fragrant fume — 
With costly woods and gums on burning coals 
That glowed on tripods, in bright silver bowls ; 
And at the basement of the marble stair, 
Sweet singing choirs and harping minstrels were, 
In amber kirtles purple gilt and sashed. 

7* 



1S 4 0LD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxT* 

The throbbing strings in silver ripples flashed, 

Where slaves the choral song 
Accompanied with psaltery and lyre, 
In red and saffron, like to men of fire, 

Whilst hoarsely boomed the gong : 
Or silver cymbals clashed, or, waxing shrill, 
Danced up the scale a flute's melodious thrilL 

Now at the monarch's signal, pages twain, 
4 % With sunny hair as ripened autumn grain, 

And robed in lustrous silver tissue, shot 
With changing hues of blue forget-me-not, 

Start nimbly forth, and bend 
Before the monarch, at his gilded stool, 
And crystal goblets brimming, sweet and cool, 

Obsequiously extend ; 
But Nimrod, slightly stirring, stately, calm, 
Towards the right-hand beaker thrusts his afftf, 
And languid, raises it towards his lips ; 
Yet ere he of the ruby liquor sips, 
He notices upon the surface lie — 
Fallen in and fluttering — a feeble fly, 

With draggled wings outspread. 
Then shot from Nimrod's eyes an angry flare, 
And passionately down the marble stair 

The costly draught he shed. 
He spoke no word, but with a finger wave, 
Made signal to a scarlet-vested slave ; 
And as the lad before him, quaking, kneels, 
Above him swift the gleaming falchion wheels, 
Then flashes down, and, with one leap, his head 
Bounds from his shoulders, and bespirts with red 

The alabaster floor. 
And, mingled with the outpoured Persian wine, 
Descends the steps a sliding purple line 

Of smoking, dribbled gore ; 
And floats the little midge upon a flood 
Of fragrant grape-juice, and of roseate blood. 

Then Nimrod said : " I would you ugly stain 
Were wiped away ; and thou, my chamberlain, 
\ Obtain for me a stripling, to replace 

t This petty fool. Let him have comely face, 

i And be of slender mould : 

Be lithely built, of noble birth ; a youth, 

The choicest thou canst find. His cost, in sooth ! 

I heed not. Stint no gold, 
But buy a goodly slave : for I, a king, 
Will have the best, the best of every thing — 
Of gems, of slaves, of fabrics, meats, or wine ; 
The best, the very best on earth be mine." 



XXIV.] ABRAHAM. 155 

Then, prostrate flung before his master's throne, 
The servant said, " Sire ! Terah hath a son 
Whose equal in the whole round world is none, 

Beloved as himself. 
But, Sire ! I fear the father will not deign 
To yield his son as slave through love of gain, 

For great is he in wealth." 
" Go ! " said the monarch, " I must have the child: 
Be sure the father can be reconciled, 
If you expend of gold a goodly store, 
And, if he haggles at your price, bid more ; 

I will it, chamberlain ! 
I care not what the cost. I'll have the lad ! " 
And then, he leaned him idly back, and bade 

The slaves to fan again. 

Now on the morrow, to the royal court, 
Terah Ben-Nahor from old Ur was brought — 
Protesting loud he would not yield his son 
As slave, at any price, to any one. 

" My flesh and blood be sold ! 
Fie on you ! Do you reckon that I prize 
My first-begotten as mere merchandise, 

To barter him for gold ! 
A curse on him who would the old man's stay, 
That bears him up, with. money buy away! 
Require me not to offer child of mine 
To serve and brim a tyrant's cup with wine ; 
To waste a life from morning to its grave, 
Branded in mind and soul and body * Slave !' 

How could I be repaid? 
His artless fondlings, all his childish ways : 
The reminiscences of olden days, 

That sudden flash and fade, 
Of her who bore him — her, my boyhood's choice- 
Resemblances in feature, figure, voice, 
In gesture, manner, ay ! in very tone 
Of pealing laugh, of that dear partner gone ? 
Thou, Nimrod, to an old man condescend 
To hear his story ; your attention lend, 

And judge if acted well. 
Last year to me thou gav'st a goodly steed, 
From thine own stud, of purest Yemen breed ; 

And thus it me befel. 
A stranger offered me a price so fair 
That I accepted it, and sold the mare." 
M My gift disposed of ! " with an angry start, 
King Nimrod thundered : " Thou, old man, shalt 
iox this thy avarice. A royal gift, 
Thou knowest well, must never owners shift, 

As thing of little worth. 



156 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxiY. 

Then Terah raised his trembling hands, and said, 

" From thine own mouth, O King has judgment sped. 

The Lord of Heaven and Earth, 
The King of Kings to me my offspring gave, 
And shall I sell His gift to be a slave ? 
Nimrod ! that child, which is His royal gift, — 
Thy mouth hath said it, — may not owners shift." 

At this time idolatry was commonly practised by all. Nim- 
rod and his servants Terah and his whole house worshipped 
images of wood and stone. Terah had not only twelve idols 
of the twelve months which he adored, but he manufactured 
images and sold them. 

One day, when Terah was absent, and Abraham was left 
to manage the shop, he thought the time had come when 
he must make his protest against idolatry. This he did 
as follows. Every purchaser who came, was asked by 
Abraham his age ; if he answered fifty or sixty years old, 
Abraham exclaimed, " Woe to a man of such an age who 
adores the work of one day ! " and the purchaser withdrew 
in shame. 

Another version of the incident is more full. 

A strong, lusty fellow came one day to buy an idol, the 
strongest that there was. As he was going away with it, 
Abraham called after him, " How old are you? " 

" Seventy years/' he answered. 

" Oh, you fool ! " said Abraham, " to adore a god younger 
than yourself." 

" What do you mean ? " asked the purchaser. 

" Why, you were born seventy years ago, and this god was 
made only yesterday." 

Hearing this, the buyer threw the idol away. 

Shortly after, an old woman brought a dish of meal to set 
before the idols. Abraham took it, and then with a stick 
smashed all the gods except the biggest, into whose hands he 
placed the stick. 

Terah, who was returning home, heard the noise of blows, 
and quickened his pace. When he entered, his gods were in 
pieces. 

He accused Abraham angrily ; but Abraham said, " My 
father, a woman brought this dish of meal for the gods : they 
all wanted to have it, and the strongest knocked the heads 
off the rest, lest they should eat it all." And this, say the 






xxiv.] ABRAHAM. 157 

Mussulmans, was the first lie that Abraham told, but it was 
not a lie, but a justifiable falsehood. 

Terah said this could not be true, for the images were of 
wood and stone. 

"Let thine ear hear what thy mouth hath spoken," said 
Abraham, and then he exhorted his father against idolatry. 

Terah complained to Nimrod, who sent for Abraham, and 
he said to him, " Wilt thou not worship these idols ? Well, 
then, adore fire." 

" Why not water which quenches fire ? " asked Abraham. 

Nimrod. — " Very well ; then worship water." 

Abraham. — "Why not the clouds which swallow the 
water ? " 

Nimrod. — " So be it ; adore the clouds." 

Abraham. — " Rather let me adore wind which blows the 
clouds about." 

Nimrod. — " So be it ; pray to the wind." 

Abraham. — " But man can stand up against the wind, and 
build it out of his house." 

Then Nimrod in a fury exclaimed, " Fire is my god, and 
that shall consume you." 

According to another version, a woman came to Abraham 
to buy a god, because thieves had stolen her former god ; this 
gave the patriarch a text for his homily against idolatry. The 
woman was convinced. 

" Believe in the true God," said he, " and you will recover 
the things the thieves stole from your house." 

A few days after, the woman recovered all her lost goods, 
amongst them her image. Then she took a stone, and smash- 
ed its head, saying, " Oh, thou blockhead, not to be able to 
preserve my property and thyself from thieves ! " 

The report of what she had said and done reached the king, 
who ordered her to be executed. But Nimrod was uneasy, 
and he announced a grand ceremony to last for seven days, 
during which every one was to produce his gods and carry 
them about the streets, which were to be hung with gold and 
silks. His object was to dazzle Abraham's eyes by the splen- 
dor of idol worship. He sent for Terah and Abraham, but 
the latter refused to attend. The Mussulmans say that Abra- 
ham excused himself thus : " I see in the stars that I am go- 
ing to be very sick to-day." This was the second lie Abraham 
told, but it was not a lie, it was a justifiable falsehood. Then 



158 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxiv 

the king sent his guard, who arrested him and cast him into a 
dungeon. 

He lay in the dungeon ten days. The angel Gabriel 
brought him food, and a crystal fountain bubbled up through 
the soil of his cell. 

Nimrod called his council together, and it was unanimous- 
ly decided that Abraham should be burnt alive. The king 
therefore published a decree ordering every man to bring wood 
or other fuel for the heating of the kiln. 1 The wood was piled 
about the furnace to the height of five ells, for a circle of five 
ells diameter, and for three days and three nights the fire was 
kept up, and the flames licked the heavens, so that the oven 
was at a white heat. Then Nimrod ordered his jailer to pro- 
duce Abraham. The prison-keeper humbly answered, that it 
was impossible that Abraham could be alive, for he had been 
given neither meat nor drink. But Nimrod answered, " Pro- 
duce him alive or dead." 

Then the jailer went to the prison door and cried, "Abra- 
ham, livest thou ? " 

" I live," answered the prisoner, "and am hearty." 

" How is that possible?" asked the jailer, astonished. 

" Because the Almighty has wrought a miracle on my be- 
half. He is sole God, invisible, the Creator of the world, and 
the Lord of Nimrod." 

The jailer believed. 

The news was conveyed to Nimrod, who ordered the im- 
mediate execution of the jailer ; but as the executioner was 
about to smite off his head, he cried, " The Eternal One is 
alone the true God of the world, and the God of Nimrod who 
denies him." And lo ! the sword was blunted, and shivered 
into a thousand fragments. 

Here we must add a few particulars from Mussulman 
sources. 

" Who is your God ? " asked Nimrod of Abraham, when 
brought before him. 

" He who kills and makes alive again," said Abraham. 

1 The Mussulman story, which is precisely the same as the Jewish, 
adds that the camels refused to bear wood to form the pyre, but cast it on 
the ground ; therefore Abraham blessed the camels. But the mules had no 
compunction, therefore he cursed them that they should be sterile. The 
birds who flew over the fire were killed, the city was enveloped in its 
smoke, and the crackling of its flames could be heard a day's journey off. 



*xiv.J ABRAHAM. IS9 

" I can do that," exclaimed Nimrod, and he ordered two 
prisoners before him ; one he slew, the other he spared. 

But Abraham said, " Behold the power of my God ! " and 
he bade a dead man who had been four years in his grave, 
rise and bring him a white cock, a black raven, a green pigeon, 
and a gayly-colored peacock. The dead man rose and obey- 
ed. Then Abraham cut up the birds, but preserved their 
heads ; and lo ! from the heads new bodies sprouted. 

" Now," said Abraham, " do the same." 

But Nimrod could not. 

" If thou art a God," said Abraham again, " command the 
sun to rise to-morrow in the west and set in the east." 

But this he could not do. 1 

Nimrod was highly incensed, and ordered that Abraham 
should be at once precipitated into the fire. When he was 
brought before the king, say the Rabbis, the soothsayers rec- 
ognized him as the boy at whose birth they had warned the 
king that one was come into the world who would be the fa- 
ther of a great nation which would subdue that of Nimrod, 
and would possess the whole earth and heaven. 

" This is the man against whom we cautioned you," they 
said ; " his father Terah must have deceived you, O king, and 
not have given you up the right child." 

Terah, on being questioned, owned the truth. 

" Who gave you this advice ? " asked the king ; " confess 
it, and your life shall be spared." 

Out of fear Terah told a lie, and said that Haran, his oth- 
er son, had suggested the deception. 

"For having given this advice," said Nimrod, " Haran shall 
perish along with Abraham. Cast them both into the flames." 
Abraham and Haran were now to be stripped and their hands 
and feet bound by ropes, and then they were to be thrown into 
the fire. But the servants of Nimrod who approached the 
brothers were caught by the flames which, like the tongues of 
serpents, shot out, curled round them, drew them into the fire, 
and consumed them. 

Then Satan appeared to Nimrod, and instructed him how 
to make a catapult which would throw stones to a distance, 
and by means of which Abraham and Haran could be project- 
ed into the midst of the fire. 

1 Weil, p. 73. 



j6o OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxiv, 

Haran was undecided in his mind whether to worship God 
or idols j sometimes he sided with Abraham, and sometimes 
with Terah. Now, the moment Haran was shot into the flames, 
his heart failed him, and he cried out that he would worship 
idols if his life were spared. But it was too late, he was burnt 
to ashes. But Abraham was unharmed. The cords which 
bound him were consumed, but for three days and nights he 
walked about in the flames, and felt no inconvenience. 1 

Then the king cried aloud. " Abraham, servant of the God 
of Heaven, come forth from the furnace to me." 

And Abraham came forth. Then the king said to him, 
" How is it that thou art not consumed ? " And Abraham an- 
swered, " The Lord God of Heaven and Earth, whom I serve, 
hath delivered me." 

Instantly the flames were extinguished, and the wood burst 
forth into flower and fruit ; and the pile was like a grove of 
flowering shrubs to look upon, and Angels descended and took 
Abraham and seated him in the midst. 

The Arabic version of this part of the story is something 
different. 

Nimrod could not see into the fire, so he ascended a high 
tower in his palace, and from the top looked down into the 
furnace, and saw that in the midst was a garden with flowers 
and a fountain of sparkling water, and Abraham seated on the 
grass beside the spring, conversing with an angel. 2 

Nimrod now loaded Abraham with presents, amongst 
which were two slaves named Oni and Eliezer ; according to 
some, the latter was a son of the tyrant. Many followed Abra- 
ham home, and brought their children to him, and said, " Now 
we see that the God in whom thou trustest, is the only true 
God ; teach our children the truth, that they may serve Him 
in righteousness. " Thus three hundred persons accompanied 
Abraham home, most of whom were servants of the king, and 
of noble race. 

Here follows in the Mussulman account the story of Nim- 
rod's attempt to reach heaven in a box, to which were attach- 
ed four vultures. His object was, says Tabari, to kill the God 
of Abraham. He went up along with his vizir. After a night 

1 Both the Rabbinic commentators and the Mussulman historians tell 
a long story about the discussion carried on between Gabriel and Abra- 
ham in the air, as he was being shot into the flames. It is hardly worth 
repeating. 2 Tabari, i. p. 147. 



xxiv.] ABRAHAM. 161 

and day in the air, the king said to his vizir, " Open the win- 
dow of the box towards the earth and tell me what you see." 
He did so, and replied, " I see the earth." After another day 
and night, he again looked out and saw the earth still ; on the 
third day, at the king's command he looked out and saw noth- 
ing. Then said Nimrod, " Open the window towards heaven 
and look out." He did so and saw nothing. Then Nimrod 
shot three arrows into the sky, and they fell back with blood 
on them. So Nimrod said, " I have killed the God of Abra- 
ham." But whence the blood came is unsettled. Some say 
that the arrows hit a bird which flew higher than the vultures ; 
but others, with more probability, say they struck a fish, which 
was being carried by the wind, that had caught it up with the 
rain out of the sea. 1 

Abraham now married the daughter of his brother Haran, 
named Sarai or Jisha, " the seeress," because she was endow- 
ed with the spirit of prophecy, say some, or, say others, be- 
cause she was so beautiful that every one wanted to see her. 
At the time of his marriage, Abraham was aged fifty ; others, 
however, suggest twenty-five. 

Two years later, Nimrod was visited with a dream. He 
saw himself and all his army in a valley, near the furnace into 
which he had cast Abraham. A man resembling the latter 
stepped out of the furnace and approached the king, holding a 
naked sword. When Nimrod recoiled, the man cast an egg at 
his head ; the egg broke and became a mighty river, which 
swept all his hosts away, saving only three men ; and on look- 
ing at them, the king saw that they wore royal robes, and ex- 
actly resembled himself. Then the stream retreated into the 
egg, and when all the water was gathered into it, from the egg 
hopped out a chicken, which seated itself on Nimrod's head, 
and pecked out one of his eyes. 

Next morning the king sent for his soothsayers to explain 
the dream, and this was their interpretation ; " Hear, O king ! 
this dream presages to thee great misfortune, which Abraham 
and his posterity shall bring upon thee. The time will come 
when he will war with his forces against thee and thy forces, 
and will overcome them and put them to the sword. Thou 
alone wilt escape with three of thy confederates ; but a mes- 
senger of Abraham will cause thy death. Therefore, O king ! 

* Weil, p. 78. 



T (>2 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxiv. 

remember that thy council of wise men foretold this fifty-two 
years ago, in the stars at Abraham's birth. As long as Abra- 
ham lives thou art in jeopardy. Wherefore could he be suffered 
to live any longer?" 

Nimrod believing what was said, sent a servant to assas- 
sinate Abraham. But Eliezer, the slave, whom Nimrod had 
given to the patriarch, had been with the councillors when this 
advice was given, and he fled and told Abraham before the 
emissary of the tyrant arrived ; and Abraham left his house 
and took refuge with Noah and Shem, and remained hidden 
with them for the space of one month. 

Here Terah sought him in secret ; and Abraham addressed 
him a long discourse on the vanity of idol-worship and the 
evil of serving the godless tyrant Nimrod. And Noah and 
Shem supported him. 

Then Terah, who grieved over the death of his son Haran, 
consented to all that Abraham had said, and he went forth 
with Abraham and his wife Sarah, and Lot his grandson, the 
son of Haran, and all his household, and they settled at Cha- 
ran, where the land was fruitful and well watered. The dwell- 
ers in Charan associated themselves with Abraham, who in- 
structed them in the knowledge and fear of the Lord. 



2. THE CALL OF ABRAHAM, AND THE VISIT TO EGYPT. 

For three years Abraham dwelt in Charan, till God called 
him to go further with his wife Sarah, and to take up his abode 
in Canaan ; but Terah and Lot remained at Charan. Abraham 
reached Canaan and pitched his tent among the inhabitants 
of that land ; and on the spot where God promised that He 
would give him all that pleasant country for his inheritance, he 
erected an altar to the Eternal One. 

For fifteen years he had dwelt in Canaan, and Abraham 
was now aged 70, when, on the 15th day of the first month 
(Nisan), on the self-same day on which, in after years, the 
children of Israel went out of Egypt, the voice of God came to 
him saying, " I am the Lord that brought thee out of the fur- 
nace of Chaldaea ; to thee will I give this land to inherit it." 
And he said, " Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall 
inherit it ? Shall my descendants be faithful and true, and 
serve Thee the living God, or will they rebel against God, 



xxiv.l ABRAHAM. 163 

against Thee, as did the men before the Flood, and as did the 
men of Shinar who builded the tower ? " 

Then God bade him take an heifer of three years old, or a 
she-goat of three years old, and a ram, and a turtle-dove, and a 
young pigeon. And he took all these and divided them in the 
midst, and laid each piece one against another ; but the birds 
divided he not. 1 And God said to him, " When, in after days, 
thy descendants shall build me a temple, in it shall these five 
kinds of victims be offered to me. 

" But," said Abraham, " should the temple be destroyed, 
what then shall they do ? " 

" Then," answered the TVIost Holy, " They shall offer to 
me in spirit, and I will pardon their sins." The beasts and 
birds also signified the races over which his seed was to reign ; 
the beasts he divided, and they betokened the Gentile races, 
from which they were to purge away their idolatry ; but the birds 
divided he not ; for the birds signified the elect nation. 

Then came ravens and vultures down upon the carcases, but 
Abraham drove them away (ver. 11) ; a symbol of the protec- 
tion which God would accord to the people, for His promise 
sake, and the sake of their father Abraham, when the powers 
of evil, or mighty princes, menaced them. 

And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon 
Abraham (ver. 12), and he saw the four realms, — the horror- 
awakening Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Syro-Grecian, and Ro- 
man empires. And God said to Abraham (ver. 13), " Know 
of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not 
theirs \ and shall serve them ; and they shall afflict them four hun- 
dred years. But in the fourth generation thy seed shall come 
hither again, after I have plagued the nation that has held them 
in bondage with 250 plagues." 

" Is this decree spoken to punish me for my crimes ? " asked 
Abraham. 

" No," answered the Almighty : " Thou shall go to thy fath- 
ers in peace ; thou shall be buried in a good old age (ver. 15) ; and 
Terah, who now bewails his former idolatry, has a share in the 
eternal happiness ; also Ishmael, thy son, who shall be born to 
thee, will, in thy lifetime, repent and return to good, and the 
profanity of thy grandson Esau shalt thou not see." 

And when the sun was set, it was dark, and the various pe- 

1 Gen. xv. 



164 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxiv 

riods of futurity passed before the eyes of the seer. He beheld 
a smoking furnace (ver. 17); this was the flaming Gehinom, 
Hell, where sinners shall expiate their iniquities. Then he saw 
a burning lamp : that was the Law given on Sinai, and it passed 
between those pieces ; that is, he saw Israel go through the. Red 
Sea. 

Then said the voice of God to the patriarch, " I have showed 
thee the Temple-worship, Law, Bondage, and Hell. I must 
tell thee that in the times to come, through the sins of thy 
children, the Temple will be destroyed, and the Law will be dis- 
regarded. 

Choose now, whether thou wilt have for their punishment, 
Bondage or Hell." 

And Abraham after long hesitation answered, " I choose 
Hell ; " for he thought, " It is better to fall into the hands of 
God, than into the hands of men." 

But the Lord answered and said, " Not so ; thou hast chosen 
wrongly, for from Bondage there will come deliverance, but 
from Gehinom, never." 

After that, Abraham returned to the land of Charan, and 
dwelt there many years ; and he instructed the men, and Sarah 
the women, in the true religion. And when his father Terah was 
dead, God called him again, and bade him go forth to the land 
which God had promised him ; and he went obediently, and 
Lot his brother's son accompanied him. And he reached the 
land of Canaan, and pitched first his wife's tent, and then his 
own, on the plain between Gerizim and Ebal ; and he erected 
three altars in thanks to God for His call, for His having 
brought him into the promised land, and for having cast down his 
enemies before him. Then he went south, and pitched on the 
spot where stands Jerusalem. 

And now a famine came upon the land ; this was the third 
famine since the world was formed, and it was sent to prove 
Abraham. He murmured not, but went down with Sarah his 
wife, and his servants. 

When he reached the River of Egypt (Wadi el Arisch), 
Abraham rested some days. As Abraham and Sarah walked 
together by the water-side, Abraham saw for the first time, 
reflected in the water, the beauty of Sarah ; for he was so 
modest that he had never lifted his eyes to her face, and knew 
not what she was like, till he saw her in the water. Then, when 
he saw how beautiful she was, he persuaded her to pass as his 



xxiv.] ABRAHAM. 165 

sister in Egypt, for he feared lest he should be slain for her 
sake ; but as a further precaution he shut her up in a chest. 

On the frontier, the Custom-house officers insisted on his 
paying the customs, due for the box, and required that it should 
be opened. Abraham offered to pay for the box as if it con- 
tained gold dust or gems, if only they would not enforce their 
right of search. 

" Does it contain silk ? " asked the officers. 

" I will pay the tenth, as of silk," he answered. 

" Does it contain silver ? " they further asked. 

*' I will pay for it as silver." 

" Nay. then it must contain gold." 

" I will pay for it as gold." 

"Maybe it contains the most rare and costly gems." 

" I will pay for it as for gems." 

In the altercation the chest was violently broken open, and 
lo ! in it was seated a beautiful woman, so beautiful that her 
countenance illumined all Egypt ; and the news reached the 
ears of Pharaoh. All this occurred in the night of the 15th of 
the month Nisan. 

Abraham and Sarah were sorely troubled, and prayed to 
God to protect them. Then the angel of the Lord was sent to 
watch over Sarah, and the angel comforted her with these words, 
" Fear not ; God has heard thy petitions ! " 

Pharaoh asked Sarah who that man was who accompanied 
her, and when she answered " My brother," Pharaoh bade him 
to be brought before him, and he gave him rich gifts. 

And Pharaoh asked Abraham, " Who is this woman ? " He 
answered " She is my sister." This say the Mussulmans, is 
the third lie that Abraham told ; but it was not a lie, but a 
justifiable falsehood. 

Pharaoh was filled with love for Sarah, and he offered her 
as his present for her hand, all his possessions of gold and 
silver and slaves, and the land of Goshen. And when he 
pressed his suit upon her with great vehemence, she cried to 
God and told him she was already married ; then he was smit- 
ten with paralysis, and great plagues afflicted all his servants. 
But Pharaoh sent for Abraham, and returned him Sarah, his 
wife, and dismissed him with costly presents, and he gave to 
Sarah also his daughter, Hagar, to be her servant. 

u Truly, my daughter, it is better," said Pharaoh, " to be 
servant in a house which God has taken under His protection, 
than to command elsewhere." 



1 66 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxiv. 

After a three months' sojourn in Egypt, Abraham returned 
to Canaan. 

According to Tabari, Hager loved Sarah greatly. On their 
way back to Canaan the provisions failed, and Abraham went 
out one day to get food, with a sack on his back ; but the day 
was hot, so that he laid down and went to sleep. He did not 
awake till evening, and then he returned, but was ashamed to 
appear with the sack empty before his wife, so he filled it with 
sand. On reaching the tent he put the sack under his head 
and went to sleep again. Very early in the morning Sarah said 
to Hagar, " What has Abraham in his sack ? open it and look." 
So Hager untied it, put in her hand and drew out flour. She 
and Sarah baked cakes of the flour, and woke Abraham and 
bade him eat. Then, full of wonder, he asked where they had 
obtained meal. They told him, and he understood that God 
had wrought a miracle. l 

Now Abraham's flocks and herds, and those of Lot, pastured 
together. Abraham's cattle were muzzled that they should 
not feed in the lands of the neighbouring people ; but Lot's 
cattle were not muzzled. And when Abraham's shepherds 
complained of this to those of Lot, the latter answered, " Your 
master is old, and has no children ; soon he will die, and then 
all will belong to our master Lot." 

But Abraham spake to Lot and said, " Thy ways and my 
ways do not agree : we must part ; do thou go to the left, and 
I will go to the right." So they separated ; and Lot departed 
from Abraham, and from the way of righteousness, and from 
the living God ; but Abraham camped in Mamre. 

3. THE WAR WITH THE KINGS. 

After the failure of the Tower of Babel, and the people had 
been scattered over the whole earth, Chedorlaomer, one of 
Nimrod's chief captains, had left his service, and had estab- 
lished a kingdom of his own in Elam. He speedily brought 
into subjection all the Canaanitish peoples that dwelt in the 
fertile valley of Jordan, — Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zebo- 
jim, and Zoar, and made them tributary to himself. These 
cities bore his yoke for twelve years, and then they rebelled. 
Five years after did Nimrod, who is also called Amraphel in 

1 Tabari, t. p. 156. 



xxiv.] ABRAHAM. ^7 

the sacred text, 1 march against Chedorlaomer, but Nimrod was 
defeated, along with his allies, Arioch, king of Ellasar, and 
Tidal, king of many confederate nations ; and obliged to enter 
into alliance with his former general, Chedorlaomer, and agree 
to assist him in bringing back the revolted cities — Sodom, 
Gomorrah, Admah, Zebojim, and Zoar — to their allegiance. 

Consequently a huge army of confederates, under Chedor- 
laomer, Nimrod or Amraphel, Arioch, and Tidal, overran the 
plain and valley of Jordan, and slew all the giants that were 
there. The country before them was a garden, and behind 
them it was a desert. 

They resolved also to defeat, and utterly to destroy Abra- 
ham, the servant of the Most High; for Nimrod (Amraphel) 
remembered the perils to which his soothsayers had assured 
him he was exposed so long as Abraham lived. 

The rulers of the five cities — Bera (Ruffian), king of Sodom ; 
Birsha (Evil-doer), king of Gomorrah; Shirrab (Covetous one), 
king of Admah ; Shemeber (the Strong one), king of Zebojim ; 
and the king (a nameless one) of Bela (the engulfing city) — ■ 
went forth in battle array, and met the host of Chedorlaomer 
in the great plain of Siddiin, from whose canals and fountains 
the Salt Sea, or Dead Sea, was afterwards formed ; and there 
they were utterly routed, and fled in precipitate haste to the 
mountains and to the desert. 

The king of Sodom alone escaped unharmed of all the five 
kings, by a miracle which God wrought, to exhibit His power 
to the dwellers in the plain, who had begun to doubt the truth 
of Abraham's deliverance out of the burning, fiery furnace. 

The conquerors took the spoils of Sodom, and carried away 
Lot, who was like Abraham in face, thinking that they had 
taken Abraham captive ; and they placed him in chains. 

Abraham was, in prophetic spirit, performing all the sacred 
rites, and preparing the unleavened cakes for the Paschal feast. 
for it was the Eve of the Passover, when the only giant who 
escaped the overthrow of the Rephaim by Chedorlaomer and 
his confederate kings, — Og, who was afterwards king of Basan, 
and who had been saved alive in the Flood of Noah, — came in 
haste to announce to the Patriarch the captivity of Lot. 

Now Og had long cast his lustful eyes on Sarah, and he 
thought in his heart, " This Abraham is full of fire and zeal, 

1 Gen, xiv. 19. The book Jasher also says that Amraphel and Nim- 
rod are the same. 



168 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxiw 

like a sportsman ; that I know well. He will rush into battle 
to deliver his kinsman Lot, and will perish ; and then Sarah, 
his beautiful wife, will be mine. ,, 

But, according to another version, it was the angel Michael 
who brought the news to Abraham ; and to another, it was Oni, 
one of the slaves Nimrod had given him, and who had been 
sent to observe the progress of the war. 

No sooner had Abraham heard the tidings than, filled with 
anxiety on Lot's behalf, and with sympathy for the Sodomites, 
his neighbors, he called all his neighbors together, and all 
those who had followed him, and in earnest words exhorted 
them to prepare to fight and rescue Lot. But they, knowing 
the disparity of numbers, would make no promise ; then he 
threatened them, but could not persuade them to join in what 
they regarded as an infatuated course certain to lead to destruc- 
tion. Consequently Abraham was obliged to go against the 
enemy with only his own servants. But as they neared the 
plain, and saw the devastations wrought by the host of Chedor 
laomer, they also slipped away in the night, and Abraham was 
left alone with Eliezer, his trusty slave, and his three friends 
Aner, Eshcol, Mamre. And he followed after the foe, as they 
retired with their spoil, till he reached one of the fountains of 
Jordan, which is named Paneas, or Dan. 

Here his three friends forsook him, along with their wives, 
who had accompanied them thus far. 

It was the night of the 15th Nisan, the self-same night in 
which in after-years the first-born of Egypt would be slain ; and 
Abraham's heart fainted as he overtook the mighty host, and 
saw that they were countless as the sands of the sea-shore, and 
as grasshoppers for number. 

But lo ! God fought for Abraham. The grass-blades changed 
into swords, and the stubble into spears, and battled all that 
night ; and in the morning, when he looked upon the host,, 
they were all dead corpses. Thus he delivered Lot and all 
the captives, men, women, and children, and the spoil that 
had been carried away ; and none stayed them, for all their foes 
lay dead upon the ground. 

The King of Sodom came forth to meet Abraham, full of 
pride of heart because he had been miraculously delivered, and 
attributing all the glory of the victory to Divine interposition 
on his own behalf. But all the people knew that Abraham 
was the favored of God, and their deliverer, and they built a 



•xxi 7.1 ABRAHAM. 1 69 

throne of the trees that covered the plain, and which had been 
burnt in the war, and set Abraham as their prince and king 
thereon 3 therefore is that place called to this day, " The king's 
dale." l 

But Abraham was little pleased with this exhibition of 
honor, and he thought upon what he had learnt of old from 
that aged man, Shem, consecrated by God to be His priest, 
when he fled to him in his cave from the tyranny of Nimrod. 

Shem reigned now in the city of Salem, which was in later 
years called Jerusalem, and from his righteous government he 
was named Melchizedek (king of righteousness). And Abra- 
ham thought, " Will Shem ever forgive me for having drawn 
the sword against his grandsons, the sons of Elam ? " 

But Shem was of no less noble and considerate temper 
than Abraham ; and he mused within himself, and said, " What 
sort of opinion can Abraham have formed of me, that such 
godless and violent hosts should have sprung from my loins, 
and have devastated the fair plain of Jordan, and carried 
away captive even his near kinsman ! " 

Then Shem full of noble resolution to reconcile himself with 
Abraham, rose up and went forth, bearing bread and wine as 
tokens of friendship. 

The words of God flowed from his mouth ; he instructed 
Abraham in all that appertained to the high priest's office, 
which was in future times to belong to his family ; and before 
he left, he blessed Abraham with these words, " Blessed be 
Abraham of the most high Goo 7 , possessor of heaven and earth ; 
and blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine 
ene?nies into thy hand" 2 

But in so saying, Melchizedek erred grievously, for he 
blessed Abraham before he blessed God, and the Creator 
should be blessed first, and the creature blessed afterwards ; 
therefore the high priesthood was taken from him, and given 
to Aaron in after-times. 

Of all the spoil which Abraham had taken, he separated a 
tenth part, and he gave it to Melchizedek, as the offering due 
to the priest, and this was the first tithe paid in the history of 
the world. All the booty of Sodom Abraham returned to the 
king thereof, and he took an oath, u I will not take from a thread 
4ven to a shoe-latchet, and I will not take any thing that is thine, 

1 Gen. xiv 17. 2 Ibid., 19, 20. 



l 7 o OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxiv. 

lest thou should say, I have made Abraham rich, save only that 
which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which 
went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre ; let them take their 
portion" 1 

On account of this unselfishness, the remembrance of which 
was to be continued through all generations, God gave the 
descendants of Abraham maxims to be written on their phy- 
lacteries and shoe-latchets ; and the promise was made, " Over 
Edom will I cast out my shoe ; " 2 that is, Edom, the most cruel 
oppressor of the chosen people, should fall under the condem- 
nation of the Most High. 

The end of Nimrod and his confederate kings is related 
with greater fulness by the Mussulman historians. 

According to Tabari, God sent an army of flies against the 
host of Chedorlaomer and Nimrod, and these flies attacked the 
soldiers in their faces ; and the flies were so numerous that the 
soldiers could not see one another ; and the horses stung by 
them went mad, and leaped, and fell ; so that, what with the 
horses and the flies, the army was entirely dispersed. Nim- 
rod escaped to Babylon, but he was pursued by the meanest 
of the gnats of that host ; it was blind of one eye and lame 
of one leg. When Nimrod sat down on his throne, the 
gnat settled upon his knee. Then the tyrant smote at it ; and 
it rose, flew up one of his nostrils and entered his brain, which 
it began to devour. 

Nimrod beat his face and his head, and when he did so the 
fly ceased gnawing at his brain, but he had no repose from his 
agonies save when struck upon the head. Consequently there 
was, after that, always some one stationed by him to strike his 
. head. The king had a large blacksmith's hammer brought 
" into his throne-room, and with that his princes and nobles 
smote him on the head ; and the more violent the blow, the 
greater was the relief afforded. Nimrod reigned a thousand 
years before he felt the torment of the gnat ; up to that moment 
he had suffered no pains. He lived for five hundred years 
with the fly eating at his brain ; and all that while, night and 
day, there were relays of men to strike his head with the 
hammer. 3 

Precisely the same story is told by the Jewish Rabbis of 
Titus. 4 

1 Gen. xiv. 23, 24. * Ps. ix. 8. *■ Tabari, i. c. xlviii. 

4 Gittin, fol, 56 b ; Pirke of R. Eliezer, fol. 49. 






xxrv.] ABRAHAM. 171 

There is, however, another version of the tradition ; which 
is, that the gnat fattening on the brain grew in size till it 
swelled to the dimensions of a pigeon, and then the skull of 
Nimrod burst, and the gnat flew away ; and this was fifteen 
days after it had entered by his nose. 1 

More shall be told of Melchizedek in a separate article. 



4. THE BIRTH OF ISHMAEL. 

Ten years passed, and yet Sarah was barren. Abraham, 
in sore distress, prayed to God, and reminded Him of His 
promises. Sarah then said to Abraham, "God has refused 
me children, therefore take Hagar to wife, the daughter of 
Pharaoh, who was given to be my servant ; I give her thee in 
all good-will, that my reproach may be taken away, and to her 
I give her freedom." 

Abraham consented ; but Hagar, who had been virtuously 
brought up by Sarah, objected modestly, till Sarah pointed 
out to her how great an honor it would be to be the concubine 
of such a holy man. 

But no sooner was Hagar installed as second wife, and 
felt in herself that she was about to become a mother, than her 
character changed ; she assumed the pre-eminence, and cast 
bitter words in the teeth of her mistress. " What," said she, 
" can Sarah be so holy and beloved of God, and He has nev- 
er given her her heart's desire ? " 

Sarah was stung to the quick by these words of her former 
slave. She turned to her husband and said, " I demand of 
thee my rights. For thee I forsook my father's house, and 
followed thee into a strange land • for thee I passed myself off 
in Egypt as thy sister. And now what hast thou done ? Thou 
hast suffered my slave to assume the chief place in the house, 
and to take upon herself airs, and thou holdest thy peace. 
Depend upon it, if she bear thee a son there will be no peace 
in the house, for she is a daughter of Pharaoh, who is of the 
race of Nimrod, who cast thee into the furnace of fire." 

"Hagar is in thy power," answered Abraham; "but do 
her no harm. After thou gavest her her freedom, she may not 
again be brought into bondage." 

But Sarah paid no attention to these words of gentleness, 

1 Weil, p. 80. 



172 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxm 

and treated Hagar with such cruelty, beat her, and cast an 
evil eye on her, so that she was delivered before her time of a 
dead child, and she fled for her life from the house. 

The All-Righteous, for this offence, shortened Sarah's 
life, and made her die thirty-eight years before her husband. 

Angels appeared to Hagar in the desert by the well of wa- 
ter whither she had fled, and bade her return to Abraham. 
So she went back, and was again pregnant, and bore a son r 
and called his name Ishmael. 



5. THE DESTRUCTION OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH. 

At noon on the 15th Nisan, the third day after the circum- 
cision of Abraham, as recorded in the Book of Genesis, the 
heat of the sun was so great that Gehinom (Hell) was pene- 
trated by it. And Abraham had not recovered the adminis- 
tration of the rite, which had been performed by the hands of 
Shem, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God. 

Abraham was wont every day to go forth and invite any 
travellers he might see to feast with him. But this day, owing 
to the heat and to his being in pain, he sent Eliezer, his ser- 
vant, forth, who looked and returned and said that there was 
no one to be seen. 

But Abraham thought, " Can I trust the words of this slave, 
and neglect for one day the performance of my accustomed 
hospitality ? " 

Then, notwithstanding the heat and his suffering, he went 
and sat in the shade of the door, and he beheld in the plain of 
Mamre the glory of the Lord that appeared. Abraham would 
have risen, but the voice of God called to him, saying, " Re- 
main where thou art, and let thy pious, sitting posture teach 
future generations in their prayer and instruction to be seated ; 
and let judges, in delivering judgment, occupy the same posi- 
tion." 

Then Abraham lifted his eyes, and beheld three men, who 
seemed to approach and then to withdraw. These were the 
angels Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel, sent to him with mes- 
sages, whereof each bore one. They now stood before Abra- 
ham's tent, and they came to satisfy his desire to show hospi- 
tality : but when they observed the predicament in which he 
was, they attempted to withdraw, but Abraham supposed them 
to be travellers of the three neighboring races of Saracens, 



xxiv.] ABRAHAM. I75 

Nabathaeans, and Arabians ; and as two of the angels were 
smaller of stature than the third, who stood in the middle — this 
was Michael — Abraham supposed him to be their chief; and 
he rose and bowed himself before him, and said to the Majes- 
ty of God which still shone, " If I have found favor in Thy 
sight, O Lord, may Thy majesty not depart from me whilst I 
receive hospitably these wanderers." And the Lord granted 
his request. 

Then said Abraham to the men, " Let a little water, I pray 
you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the 
tree; and I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your 
hearts ; after that ye shall pass on : for therefore are ye come to 
your servant" 

Now the reason why he said " Let a little water be fetched 
and wash your feet," was, that he supposed the men were idol- 
aters, and he would not have the dust from the feet of idolaters 
to pollute the floor of his tent. 

And they said, " Do so." 

Then Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, 
" Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and 
make cakes upon the hearth. " And Abraham ran unto the herd, 
and fetched a calf which he had dressed, and set it before them ; 
and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat. 

Abraham placed butter and milk on the table first, then 
calves' tongues, then the other dishes, and lastly Sarah's cakes ; 
but some commentators doubt whether the men ate the cakes. 
It is asserted by some that the angels only appeared to eat, 
but by others we are assured that to reward Abraham's hos- 
pitality they really did eat, and this was the only occasion on 
which angels tasted the food of earth. 

The angels, knowing that Sarah was within the tent, asked 
after her. And this betokens her great modesty, that she did 
not thrust herself forward to be seen of strange visitors. Abra- 
ham replied that she was within, engaged in women's household 
work. Then said Michael, the chief of the angels, " Truly shall 
such pious and seemly habits not pass unrewarded ; but Sarah 
shall bloom again as fair as in her youth, and shall bear a son 
in her old age." 

Sarah heard these words at the entrance of the tent ; so 
did Ishmael, who stood near. Sarah stepped behind the angel, 
but the beauty of her countenance shone before her, and the 
angel turned to look at her, and then he saw she was laughing 



I74 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS, [xxiv 

to herself, and saying, " I am good-looking, and smart dresses 
become me ; I could perfectly well produce a son, but then my 
husband is old." 

Then the word of God came to Abraham, and said, 
" Wherefore did Sarah laugh ? Am I, the all-powerful God. 
too old to create miracles ? At the appointed time Sarah shall 
have a son." To Sarah, who, out of fear, denied having laugh- 
ed, the word came, " Fear not, but thou didst laugh." 

Then Michael withdrew, for his mission was accomplished ; 
and left the other two, Gabriel and Raphael, with Abraham. 
Then God revealed to Abraham, by Gabriel, that He was about 
to destroy the cities of the plain ; and by Raphael, that He 
would deliver Lot and his family in the overthrow. 

These cities were very guilty before God. Eliezer, having 
been sent by Sarah to her brother Lot with a message, some 
years before, arrived in Sodom. An acquaintance invited him 
to a meal. But hospitality was a virtue abhorred in Sodom, 
and the news of the invitation having got wind, Eliezer's friend 
was driven out of the city. Now it was a custom in Sodom to 
make every stranger arriving within the walls rest in a certain 
bed ; and if the bed proved too long for him, his legs were pull- 
ed out to fit it ; and if it proved too short, his legs were pared 
down to its dimensions. Eliezer saw with horror what it was 
that they purposed to do with him, and he had recourse to a 
lie of necessity ; he declined to sleep in the bed, because he 
had taken an oath upon the death of his mother never to lie 
on a bed again ; and thus he escaped. Shortly after, having 
seen a Sodomite rob a poor stranger of his garment, Eliezer 
attempted to interfere, but the robber struck him over the head 
and made a gash, from which he lost much blood. Both being 
brought before the judge, this was the magistrate's decision : — 
That Eliezer was indebted to the Sodomite robber for having 
bled him. The servant of Abraham thereupon took up a large 
stone, flung it at the judge's head, which he cut open, and said, 
" Now, pay me for having bled thee ! " and then he fled out of 
the city. 

From these incidents it maybe seen how wicked the city was. 

Now Abraham had interceded with God to spare the cities 
of the plain, for the intercession of His saints is mighty with 
God. And Abraham had obtained of God that if in Zoar, 
the smallest of the cities, five righteous could be found, and 
forty-five in all the rest of the country, God would spare them. 



XXIV.] ABRAHAM. 1 75 

Then God ceased talking with Abraham. Next morning ear- 
ly, Abraham arose and took his staff, and went to the place 
where God had met him, to make further intercession for the 
cities of the plain, but the smoke of them rose as from a fur- 
nace, for brimstone and fire had been rained upon them out 
of heaven, and they had been consumed along with their in- 
habitants. Only Zoar was spared, as a place of refuge for Lot, 
and Lot was kept alive and his daughters ; for God remem- 
bered how he had been true to Abraham in Egypt, and had 
not betrayed the truth about Sarah when questioned by Pharaoh. 

The Mussulman tradition is as follows : — 

Lot, whom the Arabs called Loth, was sent by God as a 
prophet to convince the inhabitants of the cities of the plain 
of their ungodly deeds. But, though he preached for twenty 
years, he could not convince them. And whenever he visited 
Abraham he conaplained to him of the iniquity of the people. 
But Abraham urged him to patience. 

At length the long-suffering of God was exhausted, and 
He sent the angels Michael, Gabriel, and Azrael, armed with 
the sword of destruction, against these cities. 

They came to Abraham, who received them, and slaughter- 
ed a calf, and prepared meat and set it before them. But they 
would not eat. And he pressed them, and ate himself; but 
they would not eat, being angels. Then Abraham's color went 
and he was afraid, for to refuse to eat with a man is a token 
that you seek his life. 

Seeing him discouraged, the angels announced their mission. 
But Sarah, observing her husband's loss of color, laughed and 
said in her heart, " Why is he fearful, being surrounded with 
many servants and faithful friends ? " 

Now the angels promised to Abraham a son in his old age, 

and that they would rescue Lot in the overthrow of Sodom. 

Then they rose up and went on their way, and entered into 

1 Sodom ; and they met a young maiden in the street, and asked 

her the way to Lot's house. 

She answered, " He is my father, and I dwell with him ; but 
know you not, O strangers, that it is against the laws of this 
City to show hospitality ? " 

But they answered her, " Fear not ; lead us to thy father." 

So she led them, and ran before and told Lot, " Behold 
three men come seeking thee and asking shelter, and they are 
beautiful as the angels of God." 



I7 6 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxiv 

Then Lot went out to them, and told them the city was full 
of wickedness, and that hospitality was not permitted. 

But they answered, " We must tarry this night in thy house." 
Then he admitted them, and he hid them. But Lot's wife was 
an infidel, a native of Sodom ; and finding that he lodged these 
strangers, she hastened to the chief men of the city and said, 
" My husband has violated your laws, and the customs of this 
people ; he has housed travellers, and will feed them and show 
them all courtesy." 

Therefore the men of the city came tumultously to the 
door of Lot's house, to bring forth the men that were come to 
him, and to cast them out of the city, having shamefully en- 
treated them. They would not listen to the remonstrances of 
Lot, but went near to break in his door. 

Then the three angels stepped forth and passed their hands 
over the faces of all who drew near, and they were struck blind, 
and fled from their presence. 

Now, long before the day began to break, the angels rose 
up and called Lot, his wife and daughters, and bade them take 
their clothes and all that they had that was most precious, and 
escape out of the city. Therefore Lot and his family went 
forth. 

And when they were escaped, the angel Gabriel went 
through the cities, and passed his wing over the soil on which 
they were built, and the cities were carried up into heaven ; 
and they came so near thereto that those on the confines of 
heaven could hear the crowing of the cocks in Sodom, and the 
barking of the dogs in Gomorrah. And then they were over- 
thrown, so that their foundations were towards the sky and their 
roofs towards the earth. And God rained on them stones heated 
in the fire of hell ; and on each stone was written the name of 
him whom it was destined to slay. Now there were many na- 
tives of these accursed cities in other parts of the land, and 
where they were, there they were sought out by the red-fcot 
stones, and were struck down. But some were within the sa- 
cred enclosure of the temple at Mecca, and the stones waited 
for them in the air ; and at the expiration of forty days they 
came forth, and as they came forth the stones whistled through 
the air, and smote them, and they were slain. 

Now Lot's wife turned, as she went forth, to look back upon 
the city, and a stone fell on her, and she died. 1 

1 Tabari, i. c. Hi ; Abulfeda, p. 25. 



xxiv.J ABRAHAM. zjj 

It is related further of Lot that, after he had escaped, rje 
committed in ignorance a very great sin ; and Abraham sent 
him to expiate his crime to the sources of the Nile, to fetch 
thence three sorts of wood, which he named to him. Abraham 
thought, " He will be slain by ravenous beasts, and so will he 
atone for the sin that he has committed." 

But Lot after a while returned, bringing with him the woods 
which Abraham had demanded — a cypress plant, a young cedar, 
and a young pine. 

Abraham planted the three trees in the shape of a triangle, 
on a mountain, and charged Lot with watering them every day 
from Jordan. Now the mountain was twenty-four thousand 
paces from Jordan, and this penance was laid on Lot to expi- 
ate his sin. 

At the end of three months the trees blossomed ; Lot an- 
nounced this to Abraham, who visited the spot, and saw to his 
surprise that the three trees had grown together to form one 
trunk, but with three distinct roots of different natures. 

At the sight of this miracle he bowed his face to the ground 
and said, " This tree will abolish sin." 

And by that he knew that God had pardoned Lot. 

The tree grew and subsisted till the reign of Solomon, when 
it was cut down, and this was the tree which the Jews employ- 
ed to form the Cross of Christ. 1 

This tradition is, of course, Christian ; though Jewish in 
origin, it has been adapted to the Gospel story. 

6. THE BIRTH OF ISAAC. 

The country was wasted ; travellers were few ; those who 
passed by, and accepted Abraham's hospitality, spoke with 
scorn of the sin of Lot, his nephew; and the neighborhood be- 
came intolerable to the patriarch, who resolved to change his 
place of residence for a while. 

He therefore went south, between Kadesh and Sur, and 
dwelt in Gerar. 

Now Sarah had bloomed again as fair as in her youth, as 
the angel Michael had foretold ; and Abraham persuaded her 
to pretend again to be his sister, though Sarah, remembering 
the ill-success of this deceit before, hesitated to comply. 

1 Apocrypha de Loto, apud Fabricium, t. i. pp. 428-431. 
8* 



l78 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxiv. 

Abimelech, king of Gerar, hearing of Sarah's beauty, sent 
for her to his palace. He asked Abraham, " Who is this 
woman?" and he answered, "She is my sister." Then 
Abimelech inquired of the camels and of the asses, and they 
answered the same, " She is his sister." But that same even- 
ing, as it grew towards dusk, as he sat on his throne, he fell 
asleep \ and in dream saw an angel of God approach him with 
a drawn sword in his hand to slay him. The king in his dream 
cried out to know why he was doomed to death ; and the angel 
answered, " Because thou hast received into thy house the wife 
of another man, the mistress of a house." 

Abimelech excused himself, saying that Abraham had con- 
cealed the truth from him, and had said Sarah was his sister. 

" The All-Holy knows that thou hast sinned in ignorance," 
said the angel ; " but is it seemly, when strangers enter thy 
land, to be questioning closely into their connections ? Know 
that Abraham is a prophet, and foreseeing that thy people would 
entreat his wife ill, he resolved to call her his sister, and he 
knew, being a prophet, that thou couldst not harm her." x 

That night — it was the Paschal eve — the angel with the 
drawn sword traversed all the streets of the city, and closed the 
wombs of those about to bear. 

Next morning early, while it was yet dark, Abimelech sent 
for Abraham and Sarah, and gave Sarah back to her husband, 
and paid him a thousand ounces of silver, and to Sarah he gave 
a costly robe, which might conceal her from her eyes to her 
feet, that none might henceforth be bewitched by her beauty.. 
" But," said Abimelech to Abraham, " because thou didst de- 
ceive me and blind my eyes with a lie, therefore thou shaltbear 
a son, whose eyes shall be dim so that he shall be deceived." 
And Abraham prayed to the Lord, and all the woman that, 
were with child in Gerar were delivered of men-children, with- 
out the pangs of maternity, and those who were barren felt them- 
selves with child. The angel hosts besought the Lord to look 
upon Sarah, and to remember His covenant. " O Lord of the 
whole world ! Thou didst hear the cry of Abraham, and grant 
his petitions when he prayed for the barren women of Gerar ; 
and his own wife, from whom Thou didst promise him a son, 
is unfruitful and despised. Does it beseem a Lord, when he 
prepares a fleet, to free his subjects from pirates, but to leave 
the vessel of his best friend in bondage ? " 

1 Solomon Jarschi, Comm. on Moses, xx. 5. 



xxiv.] ABRAHAM. I jg 

Now it was the first day of the seventh month, Tischri, the 
day on which, at the close of the worlcTs history, the Lord will 
come to judge the quick and the dead, that the Lord God re- 
membered Sarah, and the promise He had made, and looked 
upon her, and she conceived a son in her old age, one year and 
four months after her sojourn in Gerar; and nine months after, 
say some, but, say others, six months and two days after ; at 
mid-day say some, others say in the evening of the fifteenth of 
Nisan ; or, as others affirm, on the first of Nisan she was de- 
livered of a son, without suffering any pains in the bringing 
forth. And the same time that Sarah's womb was blessed, God 
looked upon many other barren women and blessed them also ; 
and on the day that the child was born they were delivered 
likewise ; and the blind saw, the dumb spake, the deaf heard, 
and the lame walked, and the crazed recovered their senses. 
Also, the sun shone forty-eight times brighter than he shines 
at Midsummer, even with the splendor that he had on the day 
of his creation. 

And when eight days were accomplished, Abraham circum- 
cised his son, and called him Isaac. 

But many thought it was an incredible thing that Abraham 
and Sarah should have a son in their old age, and they said, 
" This is a foundling, or it is the child of one of the slaves, 
which they pass off as their own." Now Abraham held a great 
feast on the day that Isaac was weaned, and he invited thereto 
all the princes and great men of the country. And there came 
Abimelech, king of Gerar, and Og, king of Basan, and all the 
princes of Canaan, sixty-two princes in all. Such an assembly 
was not seen before, yet all these princes fell in after-years by 
the hands of Joshua. 1 

Of this feast it is related that Og's companions said to him, 
" Do you believe that that old mule, Abraham, can be the fa- 
ther of this child ? v 

Og replied with scorn, " I could crack this imp with the 
nail of my little finger." 

Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, " Thou de- 
spisest this little child, but know thou that tens of thousands 
shall spring from his loins, and that before them thy pride shall 
be humbled." 

Also, Abraham's ancestors, Shem and Eber, and his father, 

1 Josh. xii. 24. 



^o OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxiv. 

Terah — though some say he was dead — and Nahor, Abraham's 
brother, attended the feast, and the Shekinah, the glory of the 
Lord, appeared to grace it. 

But Satan also appeared in the form of a poor beggar-man, 
and he stood at the door and asked an alms. Now Abraham 
and Sarah were busy attending to their guests, so they per- 
ceived him not, but the servants thrust him away, and Satan 
received nothing ; therefore he presented himself before the 
Most High, and laid an accusation of inhospitality and churl- 
ishness against the Friend of God. 

In the mean time Sarah had assembled, and was entertain- 
ing all the wives of the guests of Abraham. And it happened 
that the women found that they had no milk in their bosoms 
to give their infants, and the babes screamed that no one could 
hear the voice of another. The mothers were in despair, for 
the children were hungry, and they were all dry. Then Sarah 
uncovered her breasts, and there spirted from them jets of milk,, 
and all the babes were nourished at her bosom, and yet there 
was more. 

Now when they saw this, the women, who had doubted that 
the child was really the offspring of Sarah, doubted no more, 
and cried, " We are not worthy that our little ones should be 
nourished at thy bosom ! " And the story goes that all those 
who afterwards joined themselves to the people of Israel, and 
all those in every nation who in after-times became proselytes, 
were descended from those who sucked the breasts of Sarah. 
In allusion to this incident it is said in the Book of Psalms i 
" Thou makes t the barren woman to keep house \ and to be the joy- 
ful mother of (i. e., giving suck to) children." 1 

The child Isaac was shown to every visitor, and all were 
astonished at his resemblance to Abraham. Both the babe 
and his father were so much alike that it was impossible to 
distinguish one from the other, and all doubt as to whose it 
was vanished before such evidence of likeness to the father, 
and before the fulness of Sarah's breasts. But as confusion 
was likely to arise through the striking similarity between fa- 
ther and son, Abraham besought God to give him wrinkles and 
white hair, that he might not be mistaken for the babe Isaac, 
or the babe Isaac be mistaken for him. 2 

1 Psalm cxiii. 9. 

2 This climax of absurdity is found also in the Mussulman histories of 
the Patriarch. 



xxiv.] ABRAHAM. rSir 

7. THE EXPULSION OF HAGAR AND ISHMAEL. 

Ishmael grew up, and became skilful with his bow ; he was 
rough and undisciplined, and he occasionally lapsed into idol- 
atry, but without his father knowing it. But Sarah was aware 
of his sin, and was grieved thereat 

Ishmael often boasted, " I am the eldest son, and I shall 
have a double portion of my father's inheritance. ,; These 
words were reported to Sarah, and she hated Ishmael for them 
in her heart. 

One day when Isaac was five years old, but others say 
fifteen, Ishmael said to him, " Come forth into the field and 
let us shoot." Isaac was well pleased. And when they were 
in the field, Ishmael turned his bow against his brother, but 
he did it in jest. Sarah saw him from the tent door, and she 
ran out, and caught away her son Isaac, and she went to 
Abraham and told him all the evil she knew of Ishmael ; how 
he had gone after idols and had learnt the ways of the Canaan- 
ites that were in the land, how he had boasted of his majority, 
and how he had sought Isaac's life. And she said, "Give the 
maid-servant a writing of divorcement, and send her away. 
Cast out this bond-woman and her son ; for the son of this bond- 
woman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. Then 
she will no more vex Isaac. Do thou leave to Isaac all thy 
possessions. Never shall Ishmael inherit any thing from thee, 
for he is not my son." 

Abraham was grieved at heart, for he loved Ishmael his 
son, but nothing that he said could alter Sarah's determination. 
She insisted on the expulsion of Hagar and her son, and 
she stirred up the wrath of Abraham against Ishmael, because 
he had fallen into idolatry. 

Sarah, say the Mussulmans, was so fierce in her jealousy, 
that she would not be satisfied till she had washed her hands 
in the blood of Hagar. Then Abraham quickly pierced 
Hagar's ears, and drew a ring through them, so that Sarah 
could fulfil her oath, without endangering the life of Hagar. 1 

It was long before Abraham could be brought to consent 
to Sarah's desire, but God appeared to him in a dream and 
said, " Fear not to obey the voice of Sarah, for she is the wife 
of thy youth, and was chosen for thee from her mother's womb. 
But Hagar is not thy wife ; she is but a bond-woman. Sarah 

1 Weil, p. 83. 



!82 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS, [xxiv. 

also is a prophetess, and sees into things that shall be in the 
latter days, further than thou. Unto Isaac and those of his 
seed who believe in the Two Worlds are the promises made ; 
and they alone shall be accounted -as thy seed." 1 

Abraham now did what he was commanded. Next morning 
he gave Hagar a writing of dismissal, and took twelve loaves 
of bread and a pitcher of water, and laid them upon Hagar, for 
Sarah had cast an evil eye upon Ishmael, so that he was ill, 
and unable to carry any burden. And Abraham attached the 
pitcher by a cord to the hips of Hagar, that all might know 
she was a slave, and the pitcher hung down and trailed on the 
sand. Ishmael was sent away without garments ; he went 
forth naked as he came into the world : thus it may be seen 
how implacable was the anger of Sarah, because he had 
boasted of his birthright, and the wrath of Abraham, because 
he had fallen into idolatry. 

But when they went along their way, Abraham looked after 
them for long, standing in the door of his tent, for his bowels 
yearned after his son, and he saw the trail in the sand of the 
water pitcher v/hich Hagar had dragged sadly along, and there- 
by Abraham knew the direction which they had taken. 

Now God forsook not the outcast in her affliction, but filled 
the pitcher with water as fast as she and her son drank out of 
it, and the water was always sweet and cold. Thus they pen- 
etrated the wilderness, and there they lost their way, and Ha- 
gar forgot the God of Abraham, and in her distress turned to 
the false gods of her father Pharaoh, and besought their protec- 
tion, for she said, " Where are the promises of the God of Abra- 
ham, that of Ishmael would He make a great nation ? " 

Now Ishmael was sick of a burning fever, and the water 
in the pitcher failed when Hagar forsook the God of Abraham. 
So she cast him under a thorn bush, and went from him the 
space of two thousand ells, that she might not hear his cries. 
But Ishmael prayed to the Lord God of- Heaven and Earth, 
and said, " O Lord God of my father Abraham ! thou canst 
send death in so many forms ; take my life speedily or give me 
a drop of water, that I suffer this agony no longer." 

And the Lord in His compassion heard the prayer of the 
weeping child, and He sent His angel and showed Hagar that 
fountain which He had created on the sixth day at dusk, and 

1 It seems probable that S. Paul alludes to this traditional speech more 
*han once, as for instance Gal. iii. 9. 



XXIV.] ABRAHAM. ^3 

of which the children of Israel were destined to drink when 
they came forth out of Egypt. 

But the accusing angel murmured against this judgment 
of God, and said, "0 Lord of the whole earth ! shall this one, 
of whom a nation of robbers shall arise, who will war upon 
thine elect people, and be a scourge upon the face of the earth, 
shall he be delivered now, and given to drink of a fountain 
destined for thine elect?" 

The Lord answered, " Is the youth guilty, or is he not guil- 
ty?» 

The angel answered, " He is not himself guilty, but his 
posterity will sin." 

Then God said, " I punish men for what they have done,, 
and not for what their children will do. Ishmael hath not 
merited a death of suffering, therefore shall he not die." And 
God opened the eyes of Hagar, and she saw the spring of wa- 
ter, and filled her pitcher, and took it to Ishmael to drink. 
She filled the pitcher before she gave her son a draught of 
water, for she had little faith, and thought that the fountain: 
would be withdrawn before she could return to it again. 

Then Ishmael was strengthened and could go, and he and 
his mother went further, and were fed by the shepherds ; and 
they reached Paran, and there they found springs of water, 
and they settled there. Ishmael took a wife, a daughter of 
Moab, named Aischa, or Aifa,or Asiah ; but others say she was- 
an Egyptian woman, and was named Meriba (the quarrelsome)^ 
and by her he had four sons and one daughter. 

Ishmael lived a wandering life in tents with his wife and 
cattle ; and the Lord blessed his flocks, and he had great pos- 
sessions. But his heart remained the same ; and he was a 
master of archery, and instructed his neighbors in making bows. 

After three years, Abraham, whose heart longed after his 
son, said to Sarah, " I must see how my son Ishmael fares." 
And she answered, " Thou shalt go if thou wilt swear to me 
not to alight from off thy camel," for she hated Hagar, and 
feared to suffer her husband to meet her once more. So 
Abraham swore. Then he went to Paran, over the desert, 
seeking Ishmael's tent ; and he reached it at noon, but neither 
Hagar nor her son were at home. Only Ishmael's wife was 
within, and she was scolding and beating the children. 

So Abraham halted on his camel before the tent door, and 
the sun was hot in the blue sky above, and the sand was white 



184 old TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxiy. 

and glaring beneath. And he called to her, " Is thy husband 
within ? " 

She answered, without rising from her seat, " He is hunt- 
ing." Or, say others, she said without looking at him or rising, 
" He is gathering dates." 

Then Abraham said, " I am faint and hungry ; bring me 
a little bread and a drop of water." 

But the woman answered, " I have none for such as thee.' 

So Abraham said to her, " Say to thy husband, even to 
Ishmael, these words : * An old man hath come to see thee out 
of the land of the Philistines, and he says, The nail that fas- 
tens thy tent is bad ; cast it away or thy tent will fall, and 
get thee a better nail.' " Then he departed, and went home. 

Now when Ishmael returned, his wife told him all these 
words, and he knew that his father had been there, and he un- 
derstood the tenor of his words, so he sent away his wife, and 
he took another, with his mother's advice, out of Egypt, and 
her name was Fatima. 

And after three years, Abraham's bowels yearned once more 
after his son, and he said to Sarah, " I must see how Ishmael 
fares." And she answered, " Thou shalt go, if thou wilt swear 
to me not to alight from off thy camel." So Abraham swore. 

Then he went to Paran, over the desert, seeking IshmaePs 
tent, and he reached it at noon ; but neither Hagar nor her 
son was at home. Only IshmaePs wife, Fatima, was within, 
and she was singing to the children. 

So Abraham halted on his camel before the tent door, and 
the sun was hot in the blue sky above, and the sand was white 
and glaring beneath. And when Fatima saw a stranger at the 
door, she rose from her seat, and veiled her face, and came 
out and greeted him. 

Then said Abraham, " Is thy husband within ? " 

She answered, " My lord, he is pasturing the camels in the 
desert ; " and she added, " Enter, my lord, into the cool of 
the tent and rest, and suffer me to bring thee a little meat." 

But Abraham said, " I may not alight from off my camel, 
for my journey is hasty ; but bring me, I pray thee, a morsel 
of bread and a drop of water, for I am hungry and faint." 

Then she ran and brought him of the best of all that she 
had in the tent, and he ate and drank, and was glad. 

So he said to her, " Say to thy husband, even to Ishmael, 
that an old man out of the land of the Philistines hath been 



xxrv. ] ABRAHAM. 185; 

here, and he says, The nail that fastens thy tent is very good ; 
let it not be stirred out of its place, and thy tent will stand." 

And he returned. And when Ishmael came home, Fatima 
related to him all the words that the old man had spoken, and 
he understood the tenor of the words. 

Ishmael was glad that his father had visited him, for he 
knew thereby that his love to him was not extinguished. 1 

Shortly after, he left his wife and children, and went across 
the desert to see his father in the land of the Philistines. And 
Abraham related to him all that had taken place with the first 
wife, and why he had exhorted him to put her away. 



8. THE STRIFE BETWEEN THE SHEPHERDS. 

Abraham lived twenty-six years in the land of the Philis- 
tines ; then he went to Hebron, and there his servants dug 
wells, and there they encamped* 

When Abimelech's servants heard of these wells that they 
had dug, they came with their flocks, and desired to use them 
also, and the largest of the wells they claimed as their own. 
But Abraham's shepherds said, " Let the well belong to those 
to whom it gives water. The Lord shall decide between us ! " 

To this the servants of Abimelech agreed. And when the 
flocks of Abraham came to drink, the well sprang up and over- 
flowed ; but when the flocks of Abimelech drew near, the wa- 
ter sank and disappeared. 

Now when Abimelech heard of the strife, he came with 
Phicol, his chief captain, to seek Abraham, and to be reconciled 
with him. " God is with all that thou doest," said Abimelech ; 
" He protected thee when Sodom was destroyed. He has giv- 
en thee a son in thine old age. He rescued thy first born when 
perishing in the desert. Swear to me, as I have offered thee 
my whole land, my own palace not excepted, in which to dwell, 
that thou wilt show equal love and liberality to my descendants 
to the third generation." 

Abraham swore to him, and they made a covenant together. 2 

And Abraham set apart seven lambs as a witness and 
token, that just as the well had sprung up when his flocks had 
come to water at it, so, in after days should it spring up to 

1 The same story is told by the Mohammedans : Weil, p. 90. 
* Gen. xxi. 24-27. 



186 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [XXIV 

water the descendants of Abraham ; as it is said, "From thena 
they went to Beer, that is, the well whereof the Lord spake unto 
Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water 
Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, well ; sing ye unto it. yA 
But such condescension and courtesy ill became Abraham 
in his dealings with a rude and savage people, and therefore 
there came to him a voice from heaven which said : " Because 
thou hast given these seven innocent lambs into the hands of a 
barbarous nation, therefore seven of thy descendants shall be 
slain by their hands (Samson, Hophni and Phinehas, Saul and 
his three sons) ; also seven dwellings that thy people shall 
raise to my Name shall they destroy (the Tabernacle, Gilgal 
Nob, Gibeon, Shiloh, and twice the Temple at Jerusalem), and 
seven months shall the ark of my covenant remain in the land 
of the Philistines." 



9. THE GROVE IN BEER-SHEBA. 

u And Abraham planted a grove in Beer-sheba, and called 
there on the na?ne of the Lord." 2 The reason was as follows : — 

Once Abraham asked Shem the son of Noah, otherwise 
called Melchizedek, king of Salem, what service he and his 
father and brethren rendered to the Lord in the ark, which 
was so acceptable to God that He preserved them alive and 
brought them in safety to Ararat ; and Shem answered, " The 
service we rendered to God, all the time of our sojourn in the 
ark, was charity." 

And when Abraham wondered and asked how that could 
possibly be, as there were none in the ark save themselves and 
the beasts, Shem answered, — 

" Even so ; we showed charity and forethought and hospi- 
tality to the animals. We fed them regularly, and we slept not 
at night ; so busy were we with them in making them comfort- 
able. Once, when we had delayed somewhat, the lion was 
hungry and bit Noah, my father." 

Then said Abraham to himself, " In very truth, if it was 
reckoned to Noah and his sons as so great righteousness, that 
they fed and tended the dumb and senseless beasts, how much 
more pleasing must it be to the Most High, to be kind and 
generous to men who are made in His image, after His like 
ness ! " 

1 Numbers xxi. 16. 17. 2 Gen. xxi. 33. 



*XIV.] ABRAHAM. 187 

Filled with this thought, Abraham settled at Beer-sheba, 
where was an abundant spring of fresh water, and there he re- 
solved to do service acceptable to the living God, and to honor 
His name, as Noah and his sons had done Him service and 
honored Him in the ark. 

So Abraham planted a grove in Beer-sheba, one hundred 
ells long and one hundred ells broad, and he planted it with 
vines and figs, pomegranates and other fruit trees ; and he built 
a guest-house adjoining this garden, and he made in it four 
doors, one towards each quarter of the heavens ; and when a 
hungry man came by, Abraham gave him food ; if there came a 
man who was thirsty, he gave him drink ; if one who was na- 
ked, he clothed him ; if one who was sick, he took him in and 
nursed him ; and he gave to every man who passed by what he 
most needed for his journey. 

He would receive neither thanks nor payment ; and when 
any one thanked him, he said hastily, " Give thanks, not to me 
the servant but to the Master of this house, who openeth His 
hand, andfilleth all things living with pletiteousnessP 

Then when the traveller asked, " Who, and where is this 
Master ? " 

Abraham answered, " He is the God who rules over heaven 
and earth ; He is Lord of all ; He kills and makes alive ; He 
wounds and heals ; He forms the fruit in the mother's womb, 
and gives it life ; He makes the plants and trees to grow ; He 
brings man to destruction, and raises him from his grave 
again." 

Thus Abraham instructed those whom he relieved. And 
if a traveller asked further, how he was to worship the great 
God, Abraham answered, " Say only these words, Praised be 
the Eternal One who reigns over heaven and earth ! Praised 
be the Lord of the whole world, who filleth all things living 
with plenteousness." And no traveller went on his way with- 
out thanking God. 

Thus that guest-house was a great school, in which men 
were taught the true religion, and gratitude to the Almighty 
God. 

IO. THE OFFERING OF ISAAC. 1 

Abraham loved the son of his old age, and Isaac grew up 

1 The Mussulmans tell the story of Ishmael almost in every particular 
the same as that given below. 



188 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxiy 

in the fear of God, and his good conduct heightened the love 
Abraham bore him \ but the Patriarch thought in his heart, 
" I prepare gifts to give of my abundance to every man that 
asks of me, and to every passer-by ; but to my Lord and God, 
the Giver of all good things, have I given nothing ! " 

There was a day when the sons of God (the angels) stood 
before the Eternal One, and amongst them was the accusing 
angel, Satan or Sammael. The Lord asked them, " Whence 
comest thou ? " 

" From walking to and fro upon the face of the earth," he 
replied. 

" And what hast thou beheld there of the doings of the sons 
of men ? " 

The accuser answered, " I saw that the sons of earth no 
longer praise Thee, and adore Thee ; when they have obtain- 
ed their petition, then they forget to give Thee thanks. I saw 
that Abraham, the son of Terah, as long as he was childless, 
built altars and proclaimed Thy name to all the world : now 
he has been given a son at the age of a hundred, and he forgets 
Thee. I went to his door as a beggar, on the day that Isaac was 
weaned, and I was turned away without an alms. I have seen 
him strike alliance with the king of the Philistines, a nation 
that knows Thee not, and to him has he given seven lambs. 
He has built a large house and he gives to strangers, but to 
Thee he gives no sacrifice of value. Ask of him any sacrifice 
that is costly, and he will refuse it." 

" What shall I ask ? " inquired the Almighty. 

" Ask of him now his son, and he will refuse him to Thy 
face." 

" I will do so, and thou shalt be confounded," answered the 
Holy One. 

The self-same night God appeared to Abraham, and ad- 
dressed him gently so as not to alarm him, and He said to 
him, " Abraham ! " 

The patriarch in deep humility answered, " Here am I, 
Lord what wiliest Thou of Thy servant ? " 

The Lord answered, " I have come to ask of thee some- 
thing. I have saved thee in all dangers ; I delivered thee out 
of the furnace of Babylon ; I rescued thee from the army of 
Nimrod ; I brought thee into this land, and gave thee men- 
servants and maid-servants and cattle and sheep and horses, 
and I have given thee a son in thine old age, and victory over 



xxiv. J ABRAHAM, 189 

all thine enemies, and new temptations await thee, for I must 
prove thee, and see if thou art grateful in thy heart, and that 
thy righteousness may be manifest unto all, and that thy obedi- 
ence may be perfected. Take therefore thy son — " 

Abraham answered trembling, " Which son ? I have two." 

The voice of God, — " That son which alone counteth with 
thee." 

Abraham. — " Each is the only son of his mother." 

The voice of God. — " The one you love." 

Abraham. — " I love both." 

The voice of God. — " The one you love best." 

Abraham. — " I love both alike." 

The voice of God. — " Then I demand Isaac." 

Abraham. — "And what shall I do with him, O Lord?" 

The voice of God. — " Go to the place that I shall tell thee, 
where, unexpectedly, hills shall arise in sight out of the valley 
bottom. Go to that place whence once My Light, My Teach- 
ing issued, which My eye watches over untiringly, and where 
the smoke of incense shall arise to Me, to the place where 
prayer is heard and sacrifice shall be offered, where at the end 
of time I shall judge the nations, and cast the ungodly into 
the pit of Gehinom ;— to the land of Moriah that I shall show 
thee, there shalt thou take thy son Isaac as a whole burnt 
offering." 

Abraham. — " Shall I bring Thee such an offering as this, 
O Lord ? Where is the priest to prepare the sacrifice ? " 

The voice of God. — " I have taken from Shem his priesthood, 
and thou art clothed therewith." 

Abraham. — " But in that country there are many hills ; which 
shall I ascend ? " 

The voice of God. — " A mountain on which shall rest my 
Glory ; there shall it be told thee further what thou must do." 

Abraham prepared to fulfil the command of God, but he 
dreaded the separation between Sarah and her son. If he took 
Isaac away secretly, then he feared that, in the excess of her 
distress, she would do herself harm. At last he decided on 
this course ; he went to Sarah's tent, and he said to her, " My 
dearest, prepare this day a little banquet, that in our old days 
we may rejoice our hearts." 

Sarah answered, "Wherefore this day, my husband? Are 
you about to lose any thing this day ? " 

Abraham said, " Think, my wife, Sarah ! how good God has 



I9 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxiv. 

been to us ; therefore it behoves us to thank Him all the days 
of our life. " 

Sarah did as Abraham had commanded. 

As they sat and ate, Abraham said, " Thou knowest well, 
dear wife, that I knew the one true God from the time that I 
was three years old. Isaac is older, and it behoves him to 
know more of the law of God. Therefore I design to take 
him with me to Shem and Eber, our ancestors, who live not 
far from here, that they may instruct him. Hast thou any thing 
to object to this, Sarah ?" 

She answered, " No ; do that which is pleasing in thine eyes ; 
only let not Isaac be away too long, for thou knowest how 
precious the sight of him is to me." 

Then Sarah put her arms round her son, and kissed him, 
and they parted with many tears ; and she exhorted Abraham 
to have great care of the youth, that the journey might not be 
too great for him." 

Next morning, very early, Abraham rose, and he saddled the 
ass himself, though he had many slaves, for he was eager to be 
gone, and to go where the Lord called him. This was the ass, 
born of the she-ass created by God on the eve of the sixth day, 
upon which Moses afterwards rodewhen he went to Egypt : ' 
it is the ass which spake to Balaam, and it is the ass of which 
the prophet Zechariah has spoken, that on it Messiah shall ride. 2 

This ass was of a hundred colors. 3 

Sarah clothed Isaac in the garment that Abimelech had 
given her, and placed a jewel-studded fillet about his head. 
She provided the travellers with food for their journey, and 
accompanied them with her maids, till Abraham bade them 
return. Then she clasped Isaac once more to her breast, and 
said with tears, " God be gracious to thee, my son ; how know 
I that I shall see thee again ? " 

Abraham had two to accompany him, Eliezer and Ishmael ; 
he had cut fig and palm wood and made a fagot. On the way 
this discourse took place between Eliezer and Ishmael. 

Ishmael said, " I perceive clearly that my father is about 

1 ExocL iv. 20. - Zech. ix. 9. 

* When King Sapor heard the R. Samuel explain that Messiah would 
come riding on an ass, the king said, " I will give him a horse ; it is not 
seemly that he should ride an ass." "What," answered the Rabbi, "hast 
thou a horse with a hundred colors ? " (Talmud, Tract. Sanhedrim, foL 
98, col. 1.) 



xxiv.] ABRAHAM. I9 I 

to offer Isaac as a whole burnt offering ; therefore I, his eldest 
son, will inherit his possessions." 

But Eliezer said, " That is false : I am his trusty servant ! 
Did not thy father drive thee away from home ? He will leave 
all to me." 

Whilst they thus spake, there came a voice from heaven, 
^O ye fools ! neither of you knows the truth." 

Abraham in the mean time walked forward. Then came 
Satan to him in the form of an old man bowed upon a staff, 
and said to him, " Whither goest thou ? " 

He answered, " I go to offer up my prayers." 

" Wherefore this knife, and fuel, and fire ? " asked Satan. 

" I take them in case we have to spend much time on the 
mountain, that we may bake bread and slay beasts." 

"Old man, thou deceivest me," said Satan. "Was I not 
by when a voice bade thee slay thy son, thine only son ; ane 
now, what art thou about to do ? Thinkest thou that thou 
shalt have another son, now that thou art a hundred years old ? 
Art thou then about to cut down with thine own hands the 
main pillar of thy tent, the staff on which thou mayest lean in" 
thine old age ? Knowest thou not the proverb, l He who de- 
stroys his own goods, how shall he get more ? ' That was not 
the voice of God, it was the voice of the Tempter, and thou 
didst listen to it. Dost thou think that God, who promised to 
make of thee a great nation, and to bless all generations 
through Isaac, would thus persuade thee to make void His 
own promises ? " 

Abraham answered, " No, it was not the Tempter who 
spake, it was the voice of God ; therefore I will not hearken 
to thy words, but walk on still in mine uprightness." 

" But if God were to ask of thee some further sacrifice, 
wouldst thou grant it ? " 

" Of a truth would I," answered Abraham. 

" Thy piety is folly," said Satan impatiently. " To-morrow 
God will punish thee for this murder thou art about to com- 
mit, since thou wilt shed the blood of thine own son." 

But when Satan saw that Abraham was not to be moved 
from his purpose, then he took the form of a blooming youth, 
and joined himself to Isaac, and asked him the object of his 
journey. 

Isaac replied that he was going to receive instruction in 
the law of the Most High. 



192 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxiy. 

" Art thou going to receive this instruction living or dead ? " 
asked Satan, scornfully. 

Isaac. — " Can a man receive instruction after he is dead ? " 

Satan. — u O thou son of a mother much to be pitied, 
knowest thou not that thy father is leading thee to death ? " 

Isaac. — " Nevertheless I shall follow him." 

Satan. — " Then all the tears and prayers of thy mother, 
beseeching Heaven to grant her a son, end in this ! All the 
pains and grief in child-bearing ! All the afflictions she laid 
on Hagar and Ishmael ! All the care she has taken of thy 
youth ! All the love she has expended upon thee ! All these 
things for nothing I " 

Isaac. — "As my father wills/' 

Satan. — " Then the inheritance passes to Ishmael. How 
he will glory in being the first-born, and his mother Hagar will 
despise Sarah, and maybe will drive her out ! " 

Isaac. — " I obey the command of my father and the will of 
God, be they what they may." 

But these words were not without some effect on Isaac. 
. With piteous voice he urged his father to suspend or delay 
what he had undertaken. But Abraham exhorted his son not 
to listen or give credence to the words he had heard, for they 
were the temptations of Satan to draw him from the path of 
obedience and the fear of God. 

They went a little further and came to a broad stream, 
Abraham, Isaac, and their followers sought to wade it ; the 
water at first reached their knees, but when they were in the 
middle, it rose to their necks. 

Abraham, who knew well the spot, and that there was nei- 
ther brook nor river there by nature, recognized this as a de- 
ception of Satan, to divert them from the right way. He told 
Isaac that this was his opinion, and raising his eyes to heaven 
he prayed ; " Thou, O Lord, didst declare to me Thy will, 
that I should take Isaac my son and offer him to Thee in 
pledge of my obedience. I did not hesitate, I did not refuse, 
and now the water overwhelms us and we sink ; how then can 
I perform that which Thou badest me do ? " 

The Lord answered, " Fear not, through thee shall My 
Name be known." 

Then the stream vanished away, and they stood upon dry 
land. 

But now Satan made another attempt to turn Abraham from 



xxiv.] ABRAHAM. 193 

his purpose. He drew him aside and said, "The object of thy 
journey has failed. I caught a whisper in heaven, and it was 
this — God will prepare a lamb for the sacrifice, and not thy 
son." 

Abraham answered, "Even if thy words be true, it matters 
x not 1 for this is the penalty of liars, that when they speak the 
truth they are not believed." 

Abraham journeyed on the rest of that day, without seeing 
his appointed place. Next day he retraced his steps, but could 
find no signs of the place. The Almighty had so ordered it, 
that men might not say Abraham was hasty and acted precip- 
itately, but might see that he had leisure and time for reflection 
on what he was about to do. 

On the morning of the third day, 1 they reached the height 
of Zophim, and thence Abraham saw a beautiful mountain-land r 
and on the top of one of the mountains was a fiery pillar, which 
reached from earth to heaven, — it was the Glory of the Lord 
appearing in the cloud. 

When Abraham asked Isaac if he beheld this sight, he an- 
swered that he did so : but when he asked his other compan- 
ions, they replied that they saw nothing save the brown hills 
and purple valleys. Some say they answered that one hill was 
to them like every other hill. 

From this, Abraham concluded that God was well pleased 
with Isaac as a victim. Then he said to Eliezer and Ishmael : 

" Tarry ye here with the ass, for you are not worthy to be- 
hold the Shekinah nearer. But I and the youth will go on, so 
many only shall go." 

Now, as he said these words, it suddenly came to his mind 
that God had promised him a great people descended from 
Isaac, so many as the stars for multitude, and with prophetic 
voice he said, " If the Lord will, so many as go on, so many 
shall return." 

Then Abraham laid the wood of the sacrifice on his son 
Isaac, and took the fire and the knife in his hand ; and they 
went on both together, Abraham joyous, and Isaac without 
fear or thought. 

1 The day is uncertain. Some say it was the 3d Nisan ; others, it was 
the first of the seventh month, Tischri, New Year's day ; others, that it 
was the Day of Atonement. Some say Isaac's age was 37 ; others say 36 ; 
others 26 ; others 25 ; others 16 ; others 13 ; others, again, say 5 ; and 
others say only 2 years. 

9 



l 9 4 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxiy. 

But after they had gone some way, Isaac turned to his fa- 
ther and said, " Father, whither are we going alone ? " 

Abraham. — " My son, we go to offer a sacrifice ?" 

Isaac. — " But art thou a priest to execute this under- 
taking ? " 

Abraham. — " Shem, the High Priest, will prepare the vic- 
tim." 

A great fear fell upon Isaac when he saw that they had no 
animal with them to offer, and he said, " Here are the fire and 
the wood, but where is a lamb for the whole offering ? " 

Abraham. — " The lamb which is to be offered is foreknown 
to the Almighty. He will provide the lamb ; and if none other 
is here, then must thou be the offering, my son." 

Isaac was silent, for the fear of death came over him. But 
presently he recovered himself and said, " If God chooses me, 
I place my soul in His hands." 

Abraham. — " My son ! Is there any blemish in thee with- 
in ? For the offering must be without blemish of any sort." 

Isaac. — " My father ! There is none. I swear by God and 
by thy life, that in my heart there is not the least resistance to 
the Divine will. My limbs do not tremble, and there is no 
quaking at my heart. With gladness do I say, The Lord be 
praised, who has chosen me for a whole sacrifice." 1 

Abraham. — " O my son, with many a wish wast thou 
brought into this world. Since thou hast been in it, every care 
has been lavished on thee. I hoped to have had thee to follow 
me and make a great nation. But now r I must, myself, offer 
thee. Wondrous was thy coming into this world, and won- 
drous will be thy going out of it ! 2 Not by sickness, not by 
war, but as a sacrifice. I had designed thee to be my com- 
fort and stay in old age ; now God himself must take thy 
place." 3 

Isaac. — " It were unworthy of thee were I to think to with- 
stand the decree of God, and of thee. Had the decision been 
thine alone, I would have obeyed." 

1 In the Rabbinic tradition, the type of Christ comes out more distinctly 
than in Genesis, for here we see Isaac not merely offered by his father, but 
also giving himself as a free-will offering, immaculate without in his body, 
and within in his soul. 

2 Might not these words be spoken mystically of Christ ? 

3 And these prophetic. Abraham means that God must take care of 
him in his old age. But they may also be taken by us thus, God must 
take thy place as the victim. 



xxnr.] ABRAHAM. 195 

When they reached the top of Moriah, God said to Abra- 
ham, — 

" This is the place where once Adam, when driven out of 
Paradise, built an altar to My name. Here also Cain and Abel 
offered their sacrifice. Then came the Flood, and when it was 
passed away, Noah offered victims to Me here. When the 
people were scattered from the tower of Babel, then this altar 
was overthrown. Now it is for thee, friend of God, to set it 
up again ! " 

Abraham built the altar, and Isaac brought him the stones. 
But, according to some authors, this was not so. Abraham 
hid his son in a cave, lest Satan should take advantage of the 
opportunity, with a stone or clod of earth, to blemish him. 

And when all was ready and the wood laid in order, then 
Isaac said to his father, " Bind me hand and foot, lest in the 
fear of death I start and thou wound me, and so I be blemished. 
Fold thy garments together, and gird thy loins, and bare thine 
arm, and strike me with the knife and then burn me to ashes, 
and lay up my ashes in a coffer, and let this coffer be preserved 
as a memorial of me in thy house, before my mother ; and 
when thou passest by it, bid her remember me. But remind 
her not of it near a well, or on the edge of a precipice, lest 
she cast herself down in her grief.' * 1 

And he continued, " When thou returnest home, how wilt 
thou console my mother ? " 

Abraham answered, " Well I know that he who comforted 
us before thou earnest, will comfort us after thou art gone 
from us." 2 

Abraham now stood over his son, who was bound with his 
hands to his feet, upon the wood laid in order ; and the eyes 
of Abraham rested on the eyes of his son. But Isaac looked 
up into heaven, and saw the Angel hosts crowded about God's 
throne. Abraham saw not this, and he lifted the knife ; but 
he trembled and the knife fell from his hand, and he cried 
aloud, " O my son ! Would that another offering were found 

1 Here again — it may be fanciful — but I cannot help thinking we have 
the type continued of Christ's presence perpetuated in the Church, in the 
Tabernacle in which the Host is reserved, that all passing by may look 
thereupon and worship, and " Remember Me " in the adorable Sacrament. 
With a vast amount of utterly unfounded fable, the Rabbinic traditions 
may, and probably do, contain much truth. 

2 " If I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you ; but If I 
depart, I will send Him unto you." (John xvi. 7.) 



I9 6 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxnr 

instead of thee ! But my help cometh only from the Lord 
who hath made heaven and earth ? " 

Then he gathered up his resolution, and took the knife and 
held it once more to strike ; and Isaac's spirit left him, and he 
swooned away. 

But the angels of God, who stood round about His throne, 
announced to the Most High all that took place, and they 
cried and wept, and even the fiery seraphim exclaimed, " Woe ! 
He slays his son." And the tears of the angels fell upon the 
face of Isaac, and made him ever after sad of countenance. 

Then God said, " Behold and see how great is the faith of 
My servant Abraham, how on earth a man can hallow My 
great name, and devote his best and dearest to My service ; 
see that, ye, who at the creation exclaimed, What is man, that 
thou art mindful of him, aud the son of man that thou so re- 
gardest him ? " 

Then He ordered Michael to fly swiftly, and stay the hand 
of Abraham. 

And the archangel, when he came near, cried aloud, " Abra- 
ham ! Abraham ! what doest thou ? " 

Abraham looked in the direction of the voice, in doubt, 
and said, " Here am I" 

Then said the angel, " Lay not thine hand upon the lad, 
neither do thou any thing unto him" 

And Abraham said, " Who art thou ? " 

Michael told him who he was. Then said Abraham, Cl The 
Most High appeared to me in a vision, and bade me take my 
son as a whole offering to the place which He should say, and 
I may take no command from a servant of God, against that 
which God Himself hath laid upon me." 

Then heaven opened, and he saw the glory of God, and 
God said to him, " Touch not the lad to do him harm, for ?iow 
I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy 
son, thine only son, from Me" 

And Abraham said, " How is this, O Lord ! that Thou 
changest Thy purpose, and sayest one day, Do this, and the 
next, Do it not ? " 

And the Lord answered, and said, " I said not unto thee, 
Slay the lad as a burnt offering, but I said, Take thy son to 
the place that I shall tell thee, as a whole burnt offering. This 
hast thou done ; thou hast fulfilled My command, I exact no 
more of thee. I change not my purpose, but I did suffer thee 



XXIV.] ABRAHAM. 197 

to misunderstand the purport of My command, and to think 
that I exacted more of thee ; and this I did to prove thee. 
And now, by Myself have I sworn ; for because thou hast done 
this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son ; that 
in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply 
thy seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is 
upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his 
enemies T 

Then Isaac revived, and Abraham cut his cords, and he 
stood up and said, " Praised be the eternal One, who quicken- 
eth those that be dead." 

And Abraham turned to the Shekinah and said, "Lord ! 
how shall I depart hence without having offered to Thee a sac- 
rifice ? " The Lord answered, " Lift thine eyes, and thou shalt 
see a beast for sacrifice behind thee." 

In the thicket of the wood was that ram which God created 
at dusk on the sixth day, that it might serve this purpose. A.n 
angel had brought it out of Paradise, where it had lived since - 
its creation, and had fed under the shadow of the Tree of Life, 
and had drunk of the River that there flows. And when the 
ram was brought into this earth, all the earth was filled with 
the fragrance from its fleece, on which hung the odors of the 
flowers on which it had lain in Paradise. 

But by Satan's fraud, the animal was frightened and strayed 
away, and Abraham tracked it by its foot-prints. Then Satan 
decoyed the beast behind some bushes and entangled its horns 
in the thicket ; and Abraham would have passed by, and not 
seen it, but the ram caught him by his cloak. So Abraham 
slew it, and offered it in sacrifice, and sprinkled with its blood 
the altar he had made. 

Now the Last Trumpets that shall sound, the one to call 
the just, the other the unjust, are made of the horns of this 
wondrous ram. 



II. THE DEATH OF SARAH. 

Sarah, — who, as we have seen, accompanied Abraham and 
Isaac part of the way to Mori ah, — on her return to the tent, 
found an old man awaiting her. It was Satan. 

He greeted her with profound respect, and asked after her 
husband and son. 

She answered that they had gone forth on a journey. 



198 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxiv. 

"Whither have they gone ? " asked Satan. 

" My lord has gone to visit the school of Shem and Eber r 
our grandsires, there to leave my son Isaac to be instructed in 
the law of God." 

" Alas ! alas ! " exclaimed the Apostate Angel ; " thou art 
greatly deceived." 

Sarah was alarmed ; and she asked wherefore he spake 
thus. . 

" Know then," said Satan, " that Abraham has gone forth 
with Isaac to sacrifice him, upon a mountain, to the Most 
High " 

When she heard this, Sarah laid her head on the bosom 01 
a slave and fainted. When she came to herself she hurried 
with her maidens to the school of Shem and Eber, and inquired 
after her husband and son, but they had neither seen nor heard 
any thing of them. So Sarah was convinced that what had 
been told her was true, and there was no spirit left in her. 

Now when Satan knew that Abraham was bringing back his 
son, and that God had accepted the will for the deed, he was 
moved with envy and spite, and he could not rest to think of 
the joy that this would cause ; so he went hastily to Sarah, and 
she was weeping in her tent, and sorely cast down and broken 
in spirit. Then he said suddenly to her, " Thy son liveth and 
is returning. God hath spared him ! " 

And she rose up and uttered a cry, and fell, and was dead ; 
for the joy had killed her." 

Abraham and Isaac, in the mean time had returned from 
Moriah, and they sought Sarah at Beer-sheba, but she was not 
there ; therefore they went to Hebron, and there they found 
her corpse. Isaac fell weeping upon the face of his mother, 
and he cried, " Mother, mother ! why hast thou forsaken me ? 
why hast thou gone away ? " 

Abraham wept aloud, and all the dwellers in Hebron wept 
and lamented over Sarah, and ceased from their labors, that 
they might mourn with Abraham and Isaac. Sarah's age was 
one hundred and seven-and-twenty years, and she was as fair 
to look upon when she died as in the bloom of her youth. 

And as Abraham was bowed over the body of his wife, he 
heard the laugh of the Angel of Death, and his words, " Where- 
fore weepest thou ? Thou bearest the blame of her death. 
Hadst thou not taken her son from her, she would have been 
alive now." 



xxiv.] ABRAHAM. 199 

Abraham sought a place where to bury her ; and he went 
to the Hittites and asked them to suffer him to buy for his 
possession a parcel of land, where he might bury one dead body. 
But they said, "Nay, we will give thee land;" but he would 
not. So they said, " Choose now a place where thou wouldst 
have thy sepulchre, and we will entreat the owner for thee." 

Then Abraham said, "I desire the double cave of Ephron 
the son of Zohar. jf it be your mind that I should bury my dead 
out of my sights hear me, and entreat for me to Ephron the son of 
Zohar ; that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath ; 
for as ?nuch money as is worth he shall give itrne, for a possession 
of a burying-place amongst you." 

And this was the reason why Abraham desired that cave. 
When he had gone after the calf, to slay it for the three angels 
that came to him befDre the destruction of Sodom, the calf had 
fled from him, and he had pursued it into this cave ; and on en- 
tering it, he found, thit it was roomy, and in the inner recesses 
he saw the bodies of Adam and Eve laid out with burning tapers 
around them, and the air was fragrant with incense. 

The Hittites elected Emor their chief that he might deal 
with Abraham, for it did not become a chief and prince, like 
Abraham, to deal with an inferior ; and Emor said in the au- 
dience of the people of the land, "My Lord, hear me ; the field 
give I thee j and the cave that is therein, I give it thee ; in the pres- 
ence of the sons of my people give I it thee ; bury thy dead." 

But this he said with craft, for he sought to take an advan- 
tage of Abraham. 1 

Then Ephron said, " Put thine own price upon the land ; " 
but this Abraham would not do. 

Then Ephron said to Abraham, "My lord, Hearken unto 
me; the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver ; what is 
that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead" 

Now the land was not worth half that sum, but Emor said 
in his heart, " Abraham can afford to pay it, and he is in haste 
to bury his dead out of his sight." 

Nevertheless, Abraham paid him in the sight of all his peo- 

1 This is one instance out of several in which the honorable and gen- 
erous conduct of a Gentile is distorted by Rabbinical tradition ; the later 
Rabbis being unwilling to give any but their own nation credit for liberal 
and just dealing. It may have been observed in the account of Abimelech, 
how the frank exchange of promises between Abraham and the Philistine 
prince was regarded by them as sinful. 



200 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxrv. 

pie. And the transfer of the land and cave was signed by 
Amigal, son of Abischna the Hittite ; Elichoran, son of Essu- 
nass, the Hivite; Abdon, son of Ahirah, the Gomorrhite ; and 
Akdil, son of Abdis, the Sidonian. 

Machpelah (double cave) was so called, because, say some, 
it contained two chambers ; or, say others, because Abraham 
paid double its value \ or, say others, because it became doubly 
holy ; but others again observe, with the highest probability, . 
because Adam's body had to be doubled up to get it into the 
cave. 

Because the Hittites dealt honorably, and sought to pro- 
cure a place for Abraham, where he might lay Sarah, their 
name is written ten times in the Holy Scriptures. 

They took also an oath of Abraham, that he and his seed 
should never attack their city Jebus with violence ; and they 
wrote his promise on brazen pillars, and set them up in the 
market-place of Jebus. Therefore, when the Israelites con- 
quered Canaan, they left the Jebusites unmolested. 1 But when 
David sought to take the stronghold of Jebus, 2 its inhabitants 
said to him, "Thou canst not storm our city, because of the 
covenant of Abraham, which is engraven on these pillars of 
brass." 

David removed these brazen pillars, for they were in time 
honored as idols ; therefore the inhabitants of Jebus were hated 
of Davids sou/; 5 but he did not break the covenant of Abra- 
ham, for he obtained the city of Jebus, not by force of arms, 
but by purchase. 4 

Sarah was buried with the utmost honor ; Shem (Melchize- 
dek), his grandson Eber, Abimelech, Aner, Eschol and Mamre, 
together with ail the great men of the land, followed the bier. 
Abraham caused a great mourning throughout the country to 
be made for seven days. After that, Abraham returned to 
Beer-Sheba, and Isaac went to be instructed in the law by 
Melchizedek. A year after, died Abimelech, king of Gerar, 
and Abraham attended his funeral. Soon after, also, died 
Nahor, Abraham's brother. 

1 Joshua i. 21. 2 2 Sam. v. 6 ; I Chron. xi. 4. 3 2 Sam. v. 8. 
4 2 Sam. xxiv. 24 ; I Chron. xxi. 24. This is, however, in direct con* 
travention of the account in the fifth chapter of the 2d Samuel. 



xxiv.] ABRAHAM. 



12. THE MARRIAGE OF ISAAC. 



20I 



After the death of Sarah, say some, Abraham had a daugh- 
ter named Bakila, by Hagar, who returned to him now that 
her enemy was dead ; but, according to others, the great bless- 
ing of Abraham consisted in this, that he had no daughters. 
Ishmael abandoned his disorderly ways, and loved and respect- 
ed his brother. 

Isaac mourned his mother three years. When this time was 
elapsed, Abraham called to him his faithful servant Eliezer, 
and said to him, " I am old, and I know not the day of my 
death ; therefore must I no longer delay the marriage of my 
son Isaac. Lay thine hand upon my thigh, and swear to me 
by God Almighty to fulfil my commission. Do not take for 
my son a wife of the daughters of the Canaanites, but go to 
Haran, to the place whence I came, and bring thence a wife 
for my son Isaac." And he added the proverb, " When you 
have wheat of your own, do not sow your field with your neigh- 
bor's corn." 

Eliezer asked, " But how, if a woman of that place will not 
accompany me hither ? " 

But Abraham said, " Fear not ; go, and the Lord be with 
thee." 

So the servant of Abraham went with ten camels, and he 
reached Haran in three hours, for the earth fled under the 
feet of his camels, and Michael, the angel, protected him on his 
way. 

When he reached Haran, he besought the Lord to give him 
a sign, by which he might know the maiden who was to be the 
wife of Isaac. " Let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I 
shall say, Let dowii thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink ; 
and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also ; 
let the same be she that Thou hast appointed for Thy servant 
Isaac." 

And there were many damsels by the fountain. And the 
servant said to them, " Let down the pitcher that I may drink." 
But they all said, " We may not tarry, for we must take the wa- 
ter home." 

Then came Rebekah the daughter of Bethuel, son of Milcah, 

the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, out of the well, and she 

chid the maidens for their churlishness ; and lo ! the water in 

the well leaped to the margin, and she let down her pitcher and 

9* 



202 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxm 

offered it to the man, and said, "Drink; and I will give thy 
camels drink also" Then Eliezer leaped from his camel, and 
he brought forth his gifts, and he gave her a nose ring with a 
jewel of half a shekel weight, and bracelets of ten shekels 
weight. And he asked if he might lodge in her house one 
night. 

She answered, " Not one night only, but many." 

Now Rebekah's brother, Laban, so called from the paleness 
of his face, or, say some, from the cowardice of his breast, 
which made him pale, — coveted the man's gold, and resolved 
to kill him. Therefore he put poison in the bowl of meat which 
was offered him. But the bowl was changed by accident, and 
it fell to the portion of Bethuel, and he ate, and died that same 
night. 

And Laban would have fallen upon Eliezer with his own 
hand, but that he saw him lead the two camels at once over the 
brook, and he knew thereby that he was stronger than he. 

After the engagement had been drawn up, as it is written in 
the first book of Moses, 1 Eliezer urged for a speedy departure. 
Mother and brother consented, but on the following day they 
asked that, besides the seven days of mourning for Bethuel, 
they should tarry a year, or at least ten months, according to 
the usual custom. But Rebekah opposed them, and said that 
she would go at once. 

It was noon when Eliezer and his retinue, together with Re- 
bekah and her nurse Deborah, left Haran, and in three hours 
they were at Hebron. 

At the self-same time Isaac was abroad in the fields, return- 
ing from the school of Seth, lamenting over his mother, and say- 
ing his evening prayer. Rebekah saw him with his hands out- 
spread, and his angel walking behind him, and she said, " Who 
is that with a shining countenance, with another walking be- 
hind him ? " 

At the same moment she knew who it was, and with pro- 
phetic vision she saw that she would become the mother of 
Esau, and she trembled and fell from the camel. 

Isaac took Rebekah to wife and led her into the tent of 
Sarah, and the door was once more open, and the perpetual 
lamp was again kindled, and it seemed to Isaac as if all the 
happiness that had gone with Sarah, had returned with Rebek- 
ah, so he was comforted for his mother. 
1 Gen. xxiv. 34-49. 



xxiv.] ABRAHAM. 203 

Eliezer was rewarded for his faithful service, for Abraham 
gave him his freedom, and he was taken into Paradise without 
having tasted of death. 



13. THE DEATH OF ABRAHAM. 

Abraham, after the death of Sarah, had brought back Ha- 
gar, and she was called Keturah, which signifies " the Bond- 
woman," and this she was called because she had ever regard- 
ed herself as bound to Abraham, though he had cast her away. 
But others say that Keturah was not Hagar, but was a daugh- 
ter of one of Abraham's slaves. She bare him six sons, 1 all 
strong, and men of clear understandings. 

According to Mussulman traditions, she was the daughter 
of Jokdan, and was a Canaanitish woman. 

Abraham said to the Most High, in gratitude of heart, 
* Thou didst promise me one son, Isaac, and thou hast given 
me many ! " 

All his substance he gave to Isaac ; but some say he gave 
him a double portion only, and the rest he made over to his 
other sons. And to Isaac only he gave the right to be buried 
in the cave of Machpelah, and along with that, his blessing. 
But others say that he did not give his blessing to Isaac, lest 
it should cause jealousy to spring up between him and his broth- 
ers. He said, " I am a mortal man • to-day here and to-morrow 
in the grave ; I have done all I can do for my children, and 
now I will depart when it pleases my heavenly Father." 

He sent the sons of Keturah away, that they might not 
dwell near Isaac, lest his greatness should swallow them up ; 
and he built them a city of iron, with walls of iron. But the 
wails were so high that the light of the sun could not penetrate 
the streets, therefore he set in them diamonds and pearls to 
illumine the iron city. 

Epher, a grandson of Abraham and Keturah, 2 went with 
an army into Libya and conquered it, and founded there a 
kingdom, and the land he called after his own name, Africa. 

Abraham was alive when Rebekah, after twenty years of 
barrenness, bare to Isaac his sons, Esau and Jacob \ and he 
saw them grow up before him till their fifteenth year, and he 
died Qn the day that Esau sold his birthright. 

1 Gen. xxv. 2. 8 Gen. xxv. 4. 



204 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxiv. 

The days of his life had been 175 years; he reached not 
the age of 180, to which Isaac attained, because God shortened 
his life by five years, lest he should know the evil deeds of 
Esau. 

The Angel of Death did not smite him, but God kissed him, 
and he died by that kiss ; and because the sword of the angel 
touched him not, but his soul parted to the kiss of God, his 
body saw no corruption 

This is the Mussulman story of his death. The Angel of 
Death, when bidden to take the soul of the prophet, hesitated 
about doing so without his consent. So he took upon him the 
form of a very old man, and came to Abraham's door. The 
patriarch invited him in and gave him to eat, but he noted 
with surprise the great infirmity of the old man, how his limbs 
tottered, how dull was his sight, and how incapable he was of 
feeding himself, for his. hands shook, and how little he could 
eat, for his teeth were gone. And he asked him how old he 
was. Then the angel answered, "I am 202." Now Abraham 
was then 200 years old. So he said, " What ! in two years 
shall I be as feeble and helpless as this ? O Lord, suffer me 
to depart ; now send the Angel of Death to me, to remove 
my soul," Then the angel took him, 1 having first watched till 
he was on his knees in prayer. 2 

Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the double cave by the 
side of Sarah ; and he was followed to his grave by all the in- 
habitants of Canaan, and Shem and Eber went before the bier. 
And all the people wailed and said, " Woe to the vessel when 
the pilot is gone ! woe to the pilgrims when their guide is lost ! " 

A whole year was Abraham lamented by the inhabitants 
of the land ; men, and women, and young children joined in 
bewailing him. 

Never was there a man like Abraham in perfect righteous- 
ness, serving God, and walking in His way from the earliest 
youth to the day of his death. 

Abraham was the first, say the Mussulmans, whose beard 
became white. He asked God when it became so, " What is 
this ? " The Lord replied, " It is a token of gentleness, my 
son." 

1 Tabari, L c. lvii. • Weil, p. 98. 



XXV.] MELCHIZEDEK. 205 

XXV. 
MELCHIZEDEK. 

We have seen that, according to Jewish traditions, Melchiz- 
edek is Shem, the son of Noah, whom God consecrated to be 
a priest forever, and who set up a kingdom on Salem. 1 

It is also said that, before he died, Lamech ordered his son, 
Noah, to transport the body of Adam to the centre of the earth. 
Now the centre or navel of the earth is Salem, afterwards called 
Jerusalem. 

Lamech also bade Noah confide to one of his children the 
custody of the body of Adam, obliging him to remain all his 
life in the service of God, and in the practice of celibacy, never 
to shed blood, and to offer to God only the sacrifice of bread 
and wine. 

Noah chose, according to some, Shem ; according to others, 
Melchizedek, the son of Shem, He did not suffer him to wear 
other garments than the skins of beasts ; nor to shave his head 
nor cut his nails, nor to build a house. 

A Christian tradition is that Adam was buried on Golgotha, 
and that when Christ died, His blood flowed down upon the 
head of Adam, and cleansed him of his sin. 

Dom Calmet, in one of his dissertations, gives various cu- 
rious opinions which have been entertained on the subject of 
Melchizedek : some affirmed that he was identical with the pa- 
triarch Enoch, who came from the Terrestrial Paradise to con- 
fer with Abraham ; and others, that the Magi who adored the 
infant Christ were Enoch, Melchizedek, and Elias. 

And some have supposed that Melchizedek was created 
before Adam, and was of celestial race. Others again have 
supposed that he was our Lord Jesus Christ who appeared to 
Abraham. 

S. Athanasius gives a curious tradition of Melchizedek. 

A queen, named Salem, had a grandson named Melchi. 
He was an idolater. Where he reigned is unknown ; but it is 
supposed that it was where now stands the city Jerusalem. 
Melchi married a princess named Salem, like his grandmother. 

1 This the Targumim, or pharaphrases of the Sacred Text, distinctly 
say, " Melchizedek, who was Shem, son of Noah, king of Jerusalem." 

(Etheridge, i. p. 199.) 



2 o6 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxv. 

By her he had two sons, of whom the younger was called Mel- 
chizedek. 

One day that Melchi was about to sacrifice to idols, he said 
to his son Melchizedek, " Bring me here seven calves to sacri- 
fice to the gods." 

Whilst going to execute his father's order, Melchizedek 
raised his eyes to heaven and said, " He who made heaven and 
earth, the sea and the stars, is the only God to whom sacrifice 
should be offered." 

Then he returned to his father, who asked him, "Where 
are the calves ? " 

ft My father," he replied, " hearken to me, and be not angry. 
Instead of offering thy victims to those gods which are no gods, 
offer them to Him who is above the heavens, and who rules 
all things." 

King Melchi replied, " Go and do what I have commanded 
thee, as thou valuest thy life." 

After that he turned to his wife Salem, and he told her that 
he purposed sacrificing one of his sons. The queen wept bit- 
terly, because she knew that the king designed the immolation 
of Melchizedek, and she said, " Alas ! I have suffered and la- 
bored in vain." 

" Do not weep," said Melchi, somewhat touched. " We will 
draw the lot : if it is mine, I will choose which of the sons is to 
die ; if it be thine, thou shalt keep the one dearest to thee." 

Now the lot fell to the queen, so she chose Melchizedek, 
whom she loved : and the king adorned his eldest son for 
sacrifice. 

There were in the temple troops of oxen and flocks of sheep 
and five hundred and three children, destined by their parents 
to be sacrificed. The queen was at home weeping, and she 
said to Melchizedek, " Dost thou not weep for thy brother, 
whom we have brought up with so much care, and who is led 
to the slaughter ? " 

Melchizedek wept, and he said to his mother, " I will go 
and invoke the Lord, the only true God Most High." 

He ascended Tabor, and kneeling down, he prayed, saying, 
" My God, Lord of all, Creator of heaven and earth, I adore 
Thee as the only true God ; hearken now unto my prayer. May 
the earth open her mouth and swallow up all those who assist 
at the sacrifice of my brother ! " 

God heard the cry of Melchizedek, and the earth parted 
asunder, and swallowed up the temple and all who were there- 



xxv.] MELCHIZEDEK. 207 

in ; and the city of Salem also, and not a stone was left stand- 
ing where it had been. 

When Melchizedek came down from Tabor, and saw what 
God had done, he was filled with dismay, and retired into a 
forest, where he spent seven years, feeding on herbs and 
drinking the dew. 

At the end of that time, a voice from heaven called Abra- 
ham, and said, "Take thine ass, lade it with rich garments, go 
to Tabor and cry thrice, O man of God ! Then a man of a 
savage appearance will come forth to thee out of the forest. 
And after thou hast cut his hair and pared his nails, clothe 
him with the garments thou hast taken with thee, and ask him 
to bless thee." 

Abraham did as he was bidden. He went to Tabor and 
called thrice, " O man of God ! " and there came out to him 
Melchizedek. Then a voice was heard from heaven, which 
said, " As there remains no one on earth of the family of 
Melchizedek, it shall be said of him that he is without father 
and without mother, without beginning of days or end of life." 

Therefore it is said of him, as of Enoch and Elias, that hav- 
ing been created a priest forever, he is not dead. 

Afterwards he is said to have founded Jerusalem. 1 

Suidas the Grammarian gives the following account of this 
mysterious personage. 

" Melchizedek, priest of God, king of Canaan, built a city 
on a mountain called Sion, and named it Salem ; which is the 
same as Eip?/vo7toXz? } the City of Peace. In which, when he 
had reigned a hundred and thirteen years, he died, righteous 
and single. For this reason he is said to have been without 
generation, because he was not of the seed of Abraham, but of 
the race of Canaan, and of abhorred seed. Therefore he was 
without honorable generation. Nor did it beseem him, the 
essence of all righteousness, to unite with the race of all un- 
righteousness. Therefore he is said to have been without fa- 
ther or mother. But that he was a Caananite, both as to coun- 
try, of which he was lord ; and as to nation, of which he was 
king : and as to neighborhood, joining that of the iniquitous Sod- 
omites, — that is evident enough. Nevertheless Salem, of which 
he was king, is that celebrated Jerusalem, which, however, did 
not bear then the complete name of Hierusalem, but the ad- 

1 Fabricius, Codex Pseud. V. T. t. i. p. 311. The Book of the Combat 
of Adam says Melchizedek was the son of Canaan. 



2 o8 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxv. 

jective iepov was added to ^aXtfju afterwards, and compounded 
into Hierusalem. And because no genealogy is given to him, 
he is said to be without father and mother. Therefore, when 
you hear him spoken of as God, by the sect of the Melchize- 
dekites, remember the saying of the Apostle, that he was of 
another race, to wit, that of Canaan." * 

Another apocryphal account of Melchizedek is in the 
" Chronicon Paschale : " — 

"A certain ancient relates and affirms, concerning Melchiz- 
edek, this. He was a man of the tribe of Ham, who, being 
found a holy seed in his tribe, pleased God ; and God called 
him into the land beyond Jordan, even as He called Abraham 
out of the land of the Chaldeans. And as this man was holy 
and just, he was made a priest of the Most High God, to offer 
bread and wine, and holy prayers to the Most High God. He 
prayed for his tribe, saying, Lord, thou hast brought me from 
my own people, and hast had mercy on me ; have mercy on 
them also. But God answered him, and said, I will save them 
when I call my Son out of Egypt. This promise God gave to 
Melchizedek. The same ancient relates a] so that at this time 
it happened that Lot was carried away captive from Sodom by 
those who were of the tribe Gothologomos, whom Abraham 
pursued and destroyed, and he liberated all the captives ; and 
Lot also, the son of his brother Aram, he delivered from their 
hands. Therefore Abraham said within himself, Lord, if in my 
days Thou sendest Thy angel upon the earth, grant me to see 
that day ! The Lord said, It cannot be, but I will show thee 
a figure of that day ; go down and cross the river Jordan and 
thou shalt behold it. 

"Therefore Abraham crossed Jordan with his men, and 
Melchizedek came forth to meet him, called by the Holy 
Ghost, having in his hands the bread of Eucharists and the 
wine of thanksgiving. Abraham did not see Melchizedek till 
he had passed over Jordan, which is the symbol of Baptism. 

" Abraham then, seeing Melchizedek coming to meet him 
having the bread of Eucharists and the cup of thanksgiving, 
fell on his face upon the earth, and adored, since he saw the 
day of the Lord, and was glad. 

" Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High 
God, blessed Abraham and said, Blessed be Abram of the Most 
High God, possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be the 

1 Suidas, Lexic. s. v. MeXxidedex. 



XXV.] MELCHIZEDEK. 209 

Most High God, which hafh delivered thine enemies into thy 
hands. And Abraham gave him tithes of all." 1 

Michael Glycas says : " Melchizedek, though he is said in 
the Sacred Scriptures to have been without father and mother, 
yet sprung from Sidos, son of ^Egyptos, who built Sidon. 
When he had built a city on Mount Sion, named Salem, he 
reigned there thirteen years, and died a just man and a vir- 
gin." 2 And Cedrenus: " Melchizedek was the son of King 
Sidos, son of ^Egyptos, but he was said to be without father 
and mother and of uncertain generation, because he was not 
of Jewish extraction, and because his parents were bad and 
not reckoned among the righteous." 3 

Joseph Ben-Gorion writes : " O Jerusalem ! once the city 
of the great King, by what name shall I designate thee ? An- 
ciently thou wast called Jebus, after thy founder ; then thou 
didst acquire the name of Zedek, and from thence did thy 
king Jehoram take his title Melchi-zedek (or Melech-zedek, 
Lord of Zedek), for he was a just king, and he reigned in thee 
justly. And thou didst obtain the name of Justice, and in 
thee justice dwelt, and the star that did illumine thee ; thou 
wast called Zedek, and in the same king's reign, to thee was 
given the title Salem, as it is written in the Law : and Mel- 
chizedek was king of Salem, so called because thus the meas- 
ure of the iniquity of the people was accomplished. But Abra- 
ham, our father, of pious memory, chose thee, to labor in thee 
and to acquire in thee a possession, and in thee to lay a root 
of good works, and because the majesty of God dwelt in thee, 
when Abraham, our father, flourished." 4 

S. Epiphanius, however, says : " Although no names of the 
parents of Melchizedek are given, yet some assert that his fa- 
ther was called Heraclas, and his mother Astaroth, or As- 
teria." B The " Catena Arabica " on Genesis says : '* Melchiz- 
edek was the son of Heraclis, the son of Peleg, the son of 
Eber ; and the name of his mother was Salathiel, the daughter 
of Gomer, the son of Japheth, the son of Noah." 

1 IIa6x(xhiov, seu Chronicon Paschale a mundo condito ad Heraclii 
imp. aim. vicesimum. Ed. C. cm Jbresne du Cange ; Paris, 1688, p. 49. 

2 Michael Glycas, Bifi\o% xpovixt/, ed. Labbe ; Paris, 1660, p. 135. 

g Georgius Cedrenus, 2s roipiv idropidov, ed. Goar ; Paris, 1647. t 
i. p. 27. 

4 Josephus Ben-Gorion, lib. vi. c. 35, apud Fabricium, i. p. 326. 
6 S. Epiphanius Haeresi, lv. c. 2. 



2IO 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. 



[xxvi. 



Melchizedek is said to have composed the ex. Psalm, Dixit 
Dominus. 1 

The tomb of Melchizedek is, or was, shown at Jerusalem^ 
says Gemelli Carrere, the traveller in Palestine. 



XXVI. 
OF ISHMAEL AND THE WELL ZEMZEM. 

The Arabs call Hagar, Hagiar Ana'i, the mother in chief, 
because of Ishmael her son. They do not suppose that she 
was the bond-servant of Sarah, but that she was the legitimate 
wife of the patriarch ; and she bore him Ishmael, who, as his 
eldest son, had the birthright, and obtained, as his double 
portion of Abraham's inheritance, the land of Arabia, whereas 
to Isaac was given the inferior land of Canaan. 

They say that Hagar died at Mecca, and that she was bur- 
ied in the exterior enclosure of the Kaaba, or square temple, 
built, say they, by Abraham. 

Near the tomb is the well of Zemzem, which is the foun- 
tain which God revealed to her when she had been driven out 
of the house of Sarah, and had fled into Arabia. 

As has been already mentioned, the Mussulmans say that 
it was Ishmael and not Isaac whom Abraham prepared to sac- 
rifice. The story need not be related again, as all the partic- 
ulars in the Jewish legends are absorbed into the Mussulman 
account. 

One particular alone needs mention. Gabriel gave the 
ram to Abraham in the place where Mussulman pilgrims now 
cast stones ; namely, on the mountain of Mina. But the ram 
escaped out of the hands of Abraham, and the patriarch threw 
seven stones after it. Then Ishmael went forward, and the 
ram halted. Ishmael went up to the ram and brought it to 
Abraham, and he took it, and slew it. Some say that this 
was the same ram that Abel had offered in sacrifice, and which 
had been preserved in Paradise. 2 

Then God said to Abraham, " Go to Mecca along with 
Ishmael, and build me the temple there." 

At Mecca had been the " Vi sited-house," to which Adam 
went in pilgrimage, and round which he walked in procession 



1 Talmud, Tract. Bava Bathra. 



2 Tabari, i. c. liii. 



xxvi.] ISHMAEL, 21 1 

every year. When the Flood came, this house had been caught 
up into heaven. 

When Abraham went in obedience to the command of God 
to visit Ishmael, and to calj him to build the temple, he found 
him on a mountain engaged in making arrows. He said to 
him, " O my son, God has ordered me to build a house along 
with thee." 

Ishmael replied, " I am ready to obey, O my father." 

Then they prepared to build. But Abraham knew nothing 
of architecture. 

God sent a cloud of the size of the Kaaba, to show them, 
by its shadow on the ground, what were to be the dimensions 
of the house, and to give them shade in which to build. 

But some say that the Serpent arrived and instructed Abra- 
ham in the proportions of the house. After that, Abraham 
and Ishmael began to dig the trenches which were to receive 
the foundations ; and they gave them the depth of a man's 
stature. Then they raised them to the level of the soil ; after 
that, they cut stones out of the neighboring rocks for the walls 
of the edifice. Abraham built, and Ishmael handed the stones. 
Now, when the wall got above his reach, Abraham placed a 
stone on the ground, and stood upon that to build, and he left 
thereon the impression of his foot. The stone remains to this 
day, and is called Makam Ibrafrm. 

And when the temple was built, God sent Gabriel to instruct 
Abraham in all the rights of pilgrimage, and how to visit Mina 
and Mount Arafat, and how to go processionally round the 
Kaapa, and to cast the stones, and to wear the pilgrim's dress, 
and to make sacrifice, and to shave the head, to visit the holy 
places, and all that concerns the pilgrimage. 

That same year Abraham made the pilgrimage, and he con- 
fided the care of the temple to Ishmael, his son, and he said 
to him, "This land belongs to thee and to thy children till the 
Judgment Day." 

Then Abraham, turning him about, went at God's com- 
mand to the top of a high mountain, and cried, " O men, God 
has built you a house, and He calls you to visit it." 

And all men and women, and the children yet unborn, an- 
swered from every quarter of the world, "We will visit it." 

Then Abraham returned into Syria. 1 

1 Tabari ; Weil, Abulfeda, pp.. 25-27, etc. 



212 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [srfyi 

Now the well of Zemzem was formed when Hagar an J 
Ishmael were in the desert. The angel Gabriel trod in the 
ground and the water bubbled up. At first it was sweet as 
honey, and as nourishing as milk. This well is one of the 
wonders of Mecca. We shall relate more of it presently. 

And the stone that w T as white and shining, but now is black, 
that stone was an angel who wept over the sins of men till he 
has grown dark ; that also is one of the wonders of Mecca. 

Whilst Ishmael was engaged one day in building the Kaaba, 
there came to him Alexander the Two-horned, and asked him 
what he was doing. 

Then Abraham answered, "We build a temple to the only 
God in whom we believe." And Alexander knew that he was 
a prophet of God ; and he went on foot seven times round the 
temple. 

About this Alexander authorities differ. Some say that he 
was a Greek, and that he was lord of the whole earth as Nim- 
rod was before him, and as Soloman was after him. 

Alexander was lord of light and darkness ; when he went 
forth with his hosts, he had light before him, and behind him 
was darkness : thus he could overtake his enemies, but could 
not be overtaken by them. He had also two banners, one 
white and the other black, and when he unfurled the white one, 
it was instantly broad day ; and when he unfurled the black 
one, it was instantly midnight. Thus he could have day in the 
darkest night, and night in the brighest day. 

He was also unconquerable ; for he could, at will, make his 
army invisible, and fall upon his enemies and destroy them, 
without their being able to see who were opposed to them. He 
went through the whole world in quest of the Fountain of Im- 
mortality, of which, as he read in his sacred books, a descend- 
ant of Shem was pre-ordained to drink, and become immortal. 

But his vizir Al Hidhr l lighted on the fountain before him 
and drank, not knowing what were the virtues of this spring ; 
and when Alexander came afterwards, the water had sunk 
away, for by God's command only one man was destined to 
drink thereof. 

Alexander was called the Two-horned, according to some, 
because he went through the world from one end to the other ; 

1 Or El Khoudr : he is identified in Arab legend with S. George and 
Elias. 



XXVI. ] ISHMAEL. 2 1 $ 

according to others, because he wore two long locks of hair 
which stood up like horns ; according to others, because he 
had two gold horns on his crown which symbolized the kingdoms 
of Grecia and Persia over which he reigned. But according to 
others, he once dreamed that he had got so near to the son, 
that he caught it by its two ends* and therefore he was given 
his name. 

Learned men are also equally disagreed as to the time in 
which he lived, and as to the place of his birth and residence. 

Most think that there were two Alexanders. One was de- 
scended from Shem, and went with El Khoudr to the end of 
the world after the Fountain of Immortality, and who was 
ordered by God to build an indestructible wall against the 
incursions of the children of Gog and Magog. The other 
Alexander was the son of Philip of Macedon, and was de- 
scended from Japheth, and was the pupil of Aristotle at Athens.* 

And now let us return to the fountain or well of Zemzem, 
and relate what befel that. 

Nabajoth, the eldest son of Ishmael, succeeded his father 
in the custody of the Kaaba, of the tombs of Adam and Eve, 
of the stone and the well. But having left only very young 
children to succeed him, Madad-ben-Amron, their maternal 
grandfather, took charge of their education, and at the same 
time became the protector of the Kaaba and of the well of 
Zemzem. 

The children of Nabajoth, when they grew old, would not 
contest with their foster-father the possession of the Holy 
places, therefore it remained to him and his sons till the time 
when the Giorhamides took them by violence. 

Then the posterity of Ishmael having attacked them, de- 
feated them, and recovered the city and temple of Mecca. 
But the stone, and the two gazelles of gold which a king 
of Arabia had given to the Kaaba, had been lost, for they 
had been thrown into the well of Zemzem, which had been 
filled up. 

The well remained choked and unregarded till the times 
of Abd-el-Motalleb, grandfather of Mohammed, who one day 
heard a voice bid him dig the well of Zemzem. 

Abd-el-Motalleb asked the voice what Zemzem was. 

Then the voice replied : " It is the well that sprang up to 

8 Weil. pp. 94-O. 



2I 4 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxvx 

nourish Ishmael in the desert, whereof he and his children 
•drank." 

Abd-el-Motalleb, not knowing whereabouts to dig, asked 
further, and the voice answered, "The well of Zemzem is 
near two idols of the Koraischites named Assaf and Nailah ; 
dig on the spot where you Shall see a magpie pecking in the 
ground and turning up a nest of ants." 

Abd-el-Motalleb set about obeying the voice, in spite of the 
opposition of the Koraischites, who objected to the overthrow 
of their idols. However, he dug, along with his ten sons, and 
he vowed that if God would show him the water, he would 
sacrifice one of his sons. And when he came to water, he 
found the gazelles of gold and the Black Stone. 

Then he summoned his children before him and told them 
his vow. And he drew lots which of them should die, and 
the lot fell on Abd-Allah, the father of the prophet. 

Then said Abd-el-Motalleb, " I am in a great strait ; how 
shall I perform my vow ? " For he loved Abd-Allah best of 
his ten sons. Now the mother of Abd-Allah belonged to the 
family of Benu-Zora, which is one of the chief in Mecca. 

The Benu-Zora family assembled and said, " We will not 
suffer you to slay your son." But he said, " I must perform 
my vow." Then he consulted two Jewish astrologers, who said, 
" Go, and put on one side your child, and on the other your 
camel, and draw the lot ; and if the lot fall on Abd-Allah, add 
a second camel to the first, and draw the lot again, and con- 
tinue adding camels till the lot falls on them ; then you will 
know how many camels will .be accepted by God as an equiva- 
lent for your son." 

He did so, and he put one camel, then two, then three, up 
to fifty. The lot fell on Abd-Allah up to the ninety-ninth 
camel ; but when Abd-el-Motalleb had added the hundreth, 
then the lot fell on those animals, and he knew that they were 
accepted in place of his son, and he sacrificed them to the 
Lord ; and this custom has continued among the Arabs, to 
redeem a man who is to be sacrificed by one hundred camels. 1 

Now when the Koraischites saw what Abd-el-Motalleb had 
drawn from the well, they demanded a share of the treasure 
he had found. But he refused it, saying that all belonged to 
the temple that Abraham and Ishmael had built. 

- Tabari, i. p. 181. 






xxvn.] ESAU AND JACOB. 2 i£ 

To decide this quarrel, they agreed to consult a dervish 
who dwelt on the confines of Syria, and passed for a prophet 
It fell out that, on the way, Abd-el-Motalleb, exhausted with 
thirst, was obliged to ask water of the Koraischites, but they 
fearing that they would not have enough for themselves, were 
obliged to refuse. 

Then, from the ground pressed by the foot of the camel of 
Abd el-Motalleb, a fountain gushed forth, which quenched the 
thirst of himself and of those who had refused to give him wa- 
ter, and they, seeing the miracle, recognized him as a prophet 
sent from God, and they relinquished their pretensions to the 
well of Zemzem. 

And when the well was cleared out, Abd-el-Motalleb gave 
to the temple of the Kaaba the two gazelles of gold, and all 
the silver, and the arms and precious things he found in the 
well. For long, Mecca was supplied with water from the well 
of Zemzem alone, till the concourse of pilgrims became sa 
great, that the Khalifs were obliged to construct an aqueduct 
to bring abundance of water into the city. 

Mohammed, to honor the town cf Mecca, where he was 
born, gave great praise to the water of the well. It is believed 
among the Arabs that a draught of that water gives health, and 
that to drink much thereof washes away sin. It is related of a 
certain Mussulman teacher, who knew a great many traditions^ 
that, having been interrogated on his memory, he replied, 
" Since I have drunk long draughts of the water of Zemzem, I 
have forgotten nothing that I learnt." 

To conclude what we have to say of Ishmael. 

He had a daughter named Basemath, whom he married to 
Esau, and many sons ; two, Nabajoth and Kedar, were his 
sons who dwelt in Mecca. He was a hundred and thirty years 
old when he died, and he was buried at Mecca, after having 
appointed Isaac his executor. 



XXVII. 

ESAU AND JACOB. 

There are few Oriental traditions, whether Rabbinic or 
Mussulman, concerning Isaac's life after he was married and 



2i6 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxvn 

his father died. Those touching his birth, early life, and mar- 
riage, have been given in the article on Abraham. 

We proceed therefore, to his history as connected with Esau 
and Jacob. 

Isaac, says Tabari, lived a hundred years after Ishmael. 
God granted him the gift of prophecy, and sent him to the in- 
habitants of Syria, in the country of Canaan, for he could not 
change his place of abode on account of his blindness ; for 
Abimelech had wished him to be dim of sight, because Abra- 
ham had deceived him by saying, " Sarah is my sister;" and, 
say the Rabbis, Isaac's eyes were made dim by the tears of 
the angels falling into them as he was stretched upon the altar 
by his father ; or because he had then looked upon the Throne 
of God, and had been dazzled thereby. 

But others say he went blind through grief and tears at his 
son Esau having taken four Canaanitish women to wife. 

Isaac had two sons, twins, by Rebekah his wife — Esau and 
Jacob. 

The Cabbalists say that the soul of Esau, whom the Arabs 
call A'is, passed into the body of Jesus Christ by metempsy- 
chosis, and that Jesus and Esau are one ; and this they at- 
tempt to prove by showing that the Hebrew letters composing 
the name of Jesus are the same as those of which Esau is com- 
pounded. 1 

The following curious story is told of the brothers by the 
Rabbi Eliezer : — " It is said that when Jacob and Esau were 
in their mother's womb, Jacob said to Esau, i My brother, 
there are two worlds before us, this world and the world to 
come. In this world, men eat, and drink, and traffic, and mar- 
ry, and bring up sons and daughters ; but all this does not 
take place in the world to come. If you like, take this world, 
and I will take the other.' And Esau denied that there was a 
resurrection of the dead, and said, ' Behold 1 am at the point to 
die; and what profit shall this birthright do to nieV And he 
gave over to Jacob in that hour his right to the other world." ' 2 
Therefore Esau and his descendants have no part or lot in 
Paradise, and none are admitted there. 3 

It is also said that the religious predilections of the children 
were developed before they were born. On the words of Gen- 

1 Maschmia Jeschua, fol. 19, col. 4. 

2 Nezach Israel, fol. 25, col. 3. 

3 Eisen:nenger, ii. pp. 260, 304. 



xxvii.] ESAU AND JACOB. 217 

esis, " The children struggled together within her" l a Rabbinic 
commentator says that when Rebekah passed before a syna- 
gogue, then Jacob made great efforts to escape into the world, 
that he might attend the synagogue, and this is the meaning of 
the words of the prophet Jeremiah, when God says of Jacob, 
Before thou earnest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee:"* 
But whenever she went before an idol temple, Esau became 
excited, and desired to come forth. 3 

When Esau was born, he had on his heel the likeness of a 
serpent, and his name indicates that he was closely connected 
with Satan (Sammael ; for, says the Rabbi Isaiah, if you write 
the name Sammael in Hebrew characters, you will find it to 
be identical with that of Esau ; for the four letters of Esau 
turned one way make Sammael, and turned another way make 
Edom. 4 Esau had also a serpent in his inside coiled in his 
bowels. 5 

Esau was called Edom, or Red, because, say some, he 
sucked his mother's blood before he was born ; or, say others, 
because he was to shed blood ; or again, because he was born 
under the ruddy planet Mars ; or again, because he liked to eat 
his meat underdone and red ; 6 but the Targumim say that 
Esau had red hair over his body like a garment ; therefore he 
was called Esau. 7 

The lads grew ; and Esau was a man of idleness to catch 
birds and beasts, a man going forth into the field to kill, as 
Nimrod had killed, and Anak, his son. But Jacob was a man 
peaceful in his works, a minister of the school of Eber, seeking 
instruction before the Lord. And Isaac loved Esau, for words 
of deceit were in his mouth ; but Rebekah loved Jacob. 8 

On the day that Abraham died, Jacob dressed pottage of 
lentiles, and was going to comfort his father. And Esau came 
from the wilderness, exhausted ; for in that day he had commit- 
ted five transgressions — he had worshipped with strange wor- 
ship, he had shed innocent blood, he had pursued a betrothed 
damsel, he had denied the life of the world to come, and he had 
despised his birthright. 9 



1 Gen. xxv. 22. * Jer. i. 5. 3 Bereschith Rabba, fol. 56., col. 2. 

4 Eisenmenger, i. p. 646. 5 Ibid. 6 Ibid., pp. 650-1. 

7 Targums, ed. Etheridge, i. p. 240. 8 Ibid., p. 241. 

* Ibid., also R. Bechai's Comment, on the Five Books of Moses, fol. 35, 
col. 1. 

io 



2l8 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxvii. 

And Esau said to Jacob, ''Let me now taste that red pot- 
tage, for I am faint." . Therefore he called his name Edom. 

And Jacob said, " Sell to me to-day what thou wouldst here- 
after appropriate — thy birthright." 

And Esau said, " Behold, I am going to die, and in anoth- 
er world I shall have no life ; and what then to me is the 
birthright, or the portion in the world of which thou speakest ? 

And Jacob said, " Swear to me to-day that so it shall be." 

And he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. And 
Jacob gave to Esau bread, and pottage of lentiles. And he ate 
and drank, and arose and went. And Esau scorned the birth- 
right, and the portion of the world that cometh, and denied the 
resurrection of the dead. 1 

But according to certain Rabbinic authorities Esau sold his 
birthright not only for the mess of lentiles, but also for a sword 
that Jacob had — to wit, the sword of Methuselah, wherewith he 
had slain a thousand devils. 2 

Esau had the garment which God had made for Adam, 3 on 
which were embroidered the forms of all the wild beasts and 
birds that were on the face of the earth, in their proper colors. 
This garment had been stolen by Ham from Noah in the #rk, 
and had been given by him to Cush, who gave it to Nimrod. 
Esau killed Nimrod, and took from him his painted dress, and 
thenceforth all the success in hunting which had attended Nim- 
rod devolved upon Esau. 4 

The story of the blessing of Jacob and Esau has not become 
surrounded with many fables. The following are the most re- 
markable. Esau on that occasion went forth in such haste to 
catch the venison, that he forgot to take with him Nimrod's gar- 
ment, and therefore was not successful in hunting, as on for- 
mer occasions, and Jacob took advantage of this forgetfulness 
to assume the embroidered coat. 5 

And when the meat was ready, and Isaac began to eat 
thereof, he was thirsty, and there was no wine for him in the 
house. So an angel was sent to him out of Paradise, and 

1 Targum of Palestine and Jerusalem ; Etheridge, i. 241, 242. The 
book Yaschar says the deed of transfer was written by Jacob on a leaf, and 
that he and Esau sealed it, p. 115 1. 

8 Eisenmenger, i. p. 651. 3 Gen. iii. 21. 

4 Yaschar, p. 11 50, where is the story of the assassination of Nimrod by 
Esau. 

* Ibid. 



xxvii.] ESAU AND JACOB. 219 

brought him the juice of the grape that grows there on the 
vine that was created before the foundations of the earth were 
laid. 1 

Isaac was so angry at having been deceived by Jacob, that 
he was about to doom him to Gehinnom, after he said, 
" Where is he that hath taken vension, and brought it me, and I 
have eaten of all before thou earnest, and have blessed him 1 " 
But he paused to prepare his curse. 

Then God suddenly opened hell to him beneath his feet, and 
he looked into it, and saw the abyss of fire and darkness, and 
his horror rendered him speechless ; but when he recovered 
his voice, he resolved that no child of his should descend there ; 
therefore he added, " Yea, and he shall be blessed." 2 

The Mussulmans relate the history of Esau and Jacob much 
as it stands in the Book of Genesis. They add that the bene- 
diction of Esau was fulfilled in his having a son named Rourn. 
from whom sprang the Greek and Roman empires. 

This is also a Rabbinical tradition, for the Talmudists say 
that Esau had a son named Eliphaz, who had a son, Zepho, 
from whom Vespasian and his son Titus were descended, and 
thus lihey attribute the destruction of Jerusalem to the struggle 
of Esau to break the yoke of Jacob from off his neck. 

Esau is said by the Rabbis to have had four wives, in imita- 
tion of Satan, or Sammael, as has been already related. 

Abulfaraj says that Esau made war with Jacob, and was 
killed by him with an arrow. 

Jacob feared Esau, for Esau said in his heart, " I will not 
do as Cain did, who slew his brother Abel in the lifetime of 
his father, after which his father begat Seth ; but I will wait 
till the days of mourning for my father are accomplished, and 
then I will kill Jacob, and so I shall be the sole heir." 3 

Therefore Jacob went out only at night ; during the day he 
hid himself away. Thus several years" passed, and his life be- 
came intolerable to him. So his mother said, " Thy uncle 
Laban, the son of Bethuel, has great possessions, and is very 
old. Go, and ask him to give thee his daughter ; and if he 
consents, then tarry with him till thy brother's anger turn away." 
Jacob listened to the advice of his mother, and he fled away 
without letting Esau know.' 

Five miracles were wrought for the patriarch Jacob, at the 
r, ii. p. 879. * Ibid., p. 262. 



1 Eisenmenger, ii. p. 8 
8 Targums, i. p. 250. 



220 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxvil. 

time when he went forth from Beer-sheba. First, the hours of 
the day were shortened, and the sun went down before its time, 
because the Word desired to speak with him ; secondly, the 
four stones, which Jacob had set for his pillow, he found in 
the morning had coagulated into one stone ; thirdly, the stone 
which, when all the flocks were assembled, the shepherds rolled 
from the mouth of the well, he rolled away with one of his arms ; 
fourthly, the well overflowed, and the water continued to flow 
all the days he was in Haran. The fifth sign — the country 
was shortened before him, so that in one day he went forth 
and came to Haran. 1 

And he prayed in the place where he rested, and took four 
stones of that place, and set them for a pillow, and went asleep. 
Of these stones this is the history. They were twelve in num-« 
ber, and Adam had set them up as an altar. On them Abel 
had offered his sacrifice. The Deluge had thrown them down, 
but Noah reared them once more. They had been again over- 
thrown, but Abraham set them in their places, and of them 
built the altar on which to sacrifice Isaac. These twelve stones 
Jacob now found, and he placed them under his head as a pil- 
low. But a great wonder was wrought, and in the morning the 
twelve stones had melted together into one stone. 2 

Finally, this stone, so ancient and with such a history, was 
carried to Scotland, by whom I do not know, where it was 
placed at Scone, and was used for the consecration of the Scot- 
tish kings. Edward I. of England brought it to London, and 
it was set beneath the chair of the Confessor, as the following 
lines, inscribed on a tablet, announced : — 

" Si quid habent veri, vel chronica cana, fidesve, 

Clauditur hac cathedra nobilis, ecce, lapis. 
Ad caput eximius Jacob quondam patriarcha 

Quern posuit cernens numina mira poli. 
Quern tulit ex Scottis, spolians quasi victor honoris, 

Edwardus primus, Mars velut omnipotens. 
Scottorum domitor, noster validissimus Hector, 

Anglorum decus, et gloria militise." 3 

The stone may now be seen in Westminster Abbey. 
When Jacob — to return to our narrative — slept with his 

1 Targums, i. p. 252. 2 Pirke R. Eliezer, c. 35. 

8 William Sanderson, Vita Mariae, reg. Scot., et Jacobi, reg. Anglorum ; 
also Beckmann, Notitiar. dignit. Dissert. 3, c. i. § 7. 



xxvii.] ESAU AND JACOB. 221 

head on the pillow of stones, he dreamed, and beheld a ladder 
fixed in the earth, and the summit of it reached to the height 
of heaven. And, behold ! the angels who had accompanied 
him from the house of his father, ascended to make known to 
the angels on high, saying, " Come, see Jacob the pious, whose 
likeness is in the throne of glory, and whom you have been 
desirous to see ! " These were the two angels who had been 
sent to Sodom to destroy it, and who had been forbidden to 
rise up to the throne of God again, because, say some, they 
had revealed the secrets of the Lord of the whole earth, or 
because, say others, they had threatened in their own name to 
destroy the cities of the plain. 

Then the rest of the angels of God came down, at the call 
of these twain to look upon Jacob. 

And the Glory of the Lord stood above him, and He said to 
him, " I am the Lord God of Abraham, thy father, and the 
God of Isaac. The land on which thou art lying I will give to 
thee and thy sons. And thy sons shall be many as the dust of 
the earth, and shall become strong in the west and in the east, 
and in the north and in the south ; and all the kindreds of 
the earth shall be blessed through thy righteousness and the 
righteousness of thy sons." 

When Jacob arrived at Haran, he saw a well in a field, and 
three flocks lying near it — because from that well they watered 
the flocks — and a great stone was laid upon the mouth of 
the well. 

And Jacob said to the shepherds, " My brethren, whence 
are ye ? " 

They said, " From Haran are we." 

And he said, " Know you Laban, son of Nahor ? " They 
answered, " We know him." 

And he said, " Hath he peace ? " 

They said, " Peace ; and behold, Rachel, his daughter, 
cometh with the sheep." 

And he said, " Behold, the time of the day is great ; it is not 
time to gather home the cattle ; water the sheep." 

But they said, "We cannot, until all the shepherds be 
gathered, and then we can altogether roll away the stone." 

While they were speaking with him, Rachel came with her 
father's sheep; for she was a shepherdess at that time, because 
there had been a plague among the sheep of Laban, and 
but few of them were left ; and he had dismissed his shep- 



222 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. fxxvu. 

herds, and had put the remaining flock before Rachel, his 
daughter. 

Then Jacob went nigh, and rolled the stone which all the 
shepherds together could scarce lift, with one of his hands, 
and the well uprose, and the waters flowed, and he watered 
the sheep of Laban, his mother's brother ; and it uprose for 
twenty years. 

And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept 

And Jacob told Rachel that he was come to be with her 
father to take one of his daughters. Then Rachel answered 
him : " Thou canst not dwell with him, for he is a man of 
cunning." 

But Jacob said, " I am more cunning than he." 

And when she knew that he was the son of Rebekah, she 
ran and made it known to her father. And when Laban heard 
the account of the strength of Jacob, his sister's son, and how 
he had taken the birthright and the order of blessing from the 
hand of his brother, and how the Lord had revealed Himself 
to him in the way, and how the stone had been removed, and 
how the well had upflowed and risen to the brink, — he ran and 
kissed him, and led him into his house. 

Laban had two daughters ; the name of the elder was Leah 
and the name of the younger, Rachel. And the eyes of Leah 
were moist and running, from weeping and praying before the 
Lord, that He would not destine her for Esau the wicked. 

Jacob served Laban seven years, and was given Leah to wife ; 
and he served seven years more; and he was given Rachel to 
wife ; and he served six years for cattle that Laban gave him ; 
and then, seeing that Laban's face was set against him, he fled 
away secretly from Laban's house, and Rachel stole the image 
that Laban worshipped. And this image was the head of a 
man, a first-born, that Laban had slain, and he had salted it 
with salt and balsams, and had written incantations on a plate 
of gold for it, and this head spake to him and told him oracles, 
and Laban bowed himself down before it. 1 

Jacob drew near to the land of Esau, and he feared that his 
enmity was not abated ; therefore he sent a message before him 
to his brother, and he tarried all night at Mahanaim. And 
he sent a present before him to Esau to abate his anger. 

The Book of Jasher gives some curious details on the meet- 
ing of the brothers. 

1 The whole of the above is from the Targumim 



xxvn.] ESAU AND JACOB. 223 

Jacob, trusting to the support of the Most High, besought 
Him to stand by him, and deliver him from the wrath of his 
brother. And God sent four angels to protect him ; these 
angels went before him. The first who met Esau presented 
himself at the head of a thousand horsemen, armed at all 
points, who fell upon the troop that accompanied Esau, and 
dispersed it. As this body of men swept along, they shouted, 
u We are the servants of Jacob \ who can resist us ? " 

A second body followed, under the second angel ; then a 
third phalanx, under the third angel. 

Esau, trembling, exclaimed, " I am the brother of Jacob. 
It is twenty years since I saw him, and you maltreat me as I 
am on my way to meet him ! " 

One of the angels answered, " If Jacob, the servant of God, 
had not been thy brother, we would have destroyed thee and 
all thy men." 

The forth body passing, under the command of the fourth 
angel, completed the humiliation of Esau. 

However, Jacob, who knew not what assistance had been 
rendered him by Heaven, prepared for Esau, to appease him, 
rich presents. He sent him four hundred and forty sheep, 
thirty asses, thirty camels, fifty oxen, in ten troops, each con- 
ducted by a faithful servant charged to deliver his troop as a 
gift from Jacob to his brother Esau. 

This consoled and pleased Esau, who, as soon as he saw 
Jacob again, was, by the grace of God, placed in a better mind, 
and the brethren met, and parted with fraternal love. 1 

Now let us take another version of the story of this meet- 
ing. 

It came to pass that Jacob spent one night alone beyond 
Jabbok, and an angel contended with him, having taken on him 
the body and likeness of a man. This angel was Michael, and 
the subject of their contention was this : — The angel said to 
Jacob, " Hast thou not promised to give the tenth of all that 
is thine to the Lord ? " And Jacob said, " I have promised." 

Then the angel said, " Behold thou hast ten sons and one 
daughter ; nevertheless thou hast not tithed them." 

Immediately Jacob set apart the four first-born of the four 
mothers, and there remained eight. And he began to number 
from Simeon, and Levi came up for the tenth, 

1 Jalkut Cadasch, fol. 81, col. 1 ; Yaschar, p. 1161 et seq. 



224 0LD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxviL 

Then Michael answered and said, " Lord of the world, this 
is Thy lot." So Levi became the consecrated one to the 
Lord. 

On account of this ready compliance with his oath, Michael 
was unable to hurt him, but he remained striving with Jacob, 
till the first ray of sunlight rose above the eastern hills. 

And he said, " Let me go, for the column of the morning 
ascendeth, and the hour cometh when the angels on high offer 
praise to the Lord of the world : and I am one of the angels 
of praise ; but from the day that the world was created, my 
time to praise hath not come till now." 

And he said, " I will not let thee go, until thou bless me." 

Now Michael had received commandment not to leave 
Jacob till the patriarch suffered him ; and as it began to dawn, 
the hosts of heaven, who desired to begin their morning hymn, 
came down to Michael and bade him rise up to the throne of 
God and lead the chant ; but he said, " I cannot, unless Jacob 
suffer me to depart." 1 

Thus did God prove Jacob, as He had proved Abraham, 
whether he would give to Him his son, when He asked him of 
the patriarch. 

But, according to certain Rabbinic authorities, it was not 
Michael who wrestled with Jacob, but it was Sammael the Evil 
One, or Satan. For Sammael is the angel of Edom, as Michael 
is the angel of Israel ; and Sammael went before Esau, hoping 
to destroy Jacob in the night. Sammael, says the Jalkut 
Rubeni, met Jacob, who had the stature of the first man, and 
strove with him ; but he could not do him an injury, for Abra- 
ham stood on his right hand, and Isaac on his left. And when 
Sammael would part from him, Jacob would not suffer it, 
till the Evil One had given him the blessing which Jacob had 
purchased from Esau. And from that day Sammael took 
from Jacob his great strength, and made him to halt upon his 
thigh. 2 

But when Michael appeared before God — we must now 
suppose the man who strove with Jacob to have been the 
angel — God said to him in anger, "Thou hast injured My 
priest ! " 

Michael answered, " I am Thy priest." 

" Yea," said the Most High, " thou art My priest in heaven, 
but Jacob is My priest on earth. Why hast thou lamed him ? " 

1 Eisenmenger, i. p. 486. 2 Jalkut Rubeni, fol. 61. col. 3. 






xxvn.J ESAU AND JACOB. 22J 

Then Michael answered, " I wrestled with him, and let him 
overcome me, to Thy honor, O Lord; that, seeing he had 
overcome an angel of God, he might have courage to go boldly 
to meet Esau." 

But this was no excuse for having lamed him. Therefore 
Michael said to Raphael, " Oh, angel of healing ! come to my 
aid." So Raphael descended to earth, and touehed the hollow 
of Jacob's thigh, and it was restored as before. 

But God said to Michael, " For this that thou hast done, 
thou shalt be the guardian of Israel as long as the world last- 
eth." ' 

Jacob called the name of the place Peniel ; for he said, " I 
have seen the angel of the Lord face to face, and my soul is 
saved." And the sun rose upon him before its time, as, when 
he went out from Beer-sheba, it had set before its time. 2 

And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau 
came, and with him four hundred men of war. And he di- 
vided the children unto Leah, and to Rachel, and to the two 
concubines, and placed the concubines and their sons foremost ; 
for he said, " If Esau come to destroy the children, and ill-treat 
the women, he will do it with them, and meanwhile we can 
prepare to fight ; and Leah and her children after, and Rachel 
and Joseph after them." 3 And he himself went over before 
them, praying and asking mercy before the Lord ; and he bow- 
ed upon the earth seven times, until he met with his brother ; 
but it was not to Esau that he bowed, though Esau supposed 
he did, but to the Lord God Most High. 4 

And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell 
upon his neck and bit him, but by the mercy of God the neck 
of Jacob became marble, and Esau broke his teeth upon it ; 
therefore it is said in the Book of Genesis that he fell on his 
neck, and kissed him; and they wept? But the Targumim ap- 
parently do not acknowledge that the neck of Jacob became 
marble, for the Targum of Palestine explains their weeping 
thus : " Esau wept on account of the pain of his teeth, which 

1 Jalkut Cadasch, fol. 91, col. 4. ' Targum of Palestine, i. p. 272. 

3 Jacob prepared three things against Esau — War, Gifts, and Prayer — 
as a token to all men that they must overcome evil by Resistance, by Alms, 
and by Supplication. (R. Bechai, Comm. on the Five Books of Moses, 
fol. 42, col. 4.) 

4 Jalkut Rubeni, fol. 62, col. 2. 

6 Bereschith rabba, fol. 71, col. 1 (70th Parascha). 
IO* 



226 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxvil 

were shaken ; but Jacob wept because of the pain of his neck ;" 
and the Targum of Jerusalem, u Esau wept for the crushing of 
his teeth, and Jacob wept for the tenderness of his neck." 

" The Lord God prospered Jacob," and he had one hun- 
dred and two times ten thousand and seven thousand (i.e., a 
thousand times a thousand, seven thousand and two hundred) 
sheep, and six hundred thousand dogs ; but some Rabbis say 
the sheep were quite innumerable, but when Jacob counted 
his sheep-dogs he found that he had twelve hundred thou 
sand of them ; others, however, reduce the number one-half 
They say, one dog went with each flock, but those who say 
that there were twelve hundred thousand dogs, count two to 
each flock. 1 

Jacob, says the Rabbi Samuel, could recite the whole of 
the Psalter. 2 Of course this must have been in the spirit of 
prophecy, as the Psalms were not written, with the exception 
of Psalm civ., which had been composed by Adam. 

Adam, after his fall, had been given by God six command- 
ments, but Noah was given a seventh — to this effect, that he 
was not to eat a limb or portion of any living animal. Abra- 
ham was given an eighth, the commandment of circumcision ; 
and Jacob was communicated a ninth, through the mouth of 
an adder, that he was not to eat the serpent. 3 

If we may trust the Book of Jasher, the affair of Shechem, 
the son of Hamor, was as follows : — The men of the city were 
not all circumcised, only some of them, so as to blind the eyes 
of the sons of Jacob, and throw them off their guard ; and 
Shechem and Hamor had privately concerted to fall upon Ja- 
cob and his sons and butcher them; but Simeon and Levi 
were warned of their intention by a servant of Dinah, and took 
the initiative. 4 But this is a clumsy attempt to throw the blame 
off the shoulders of the ancestors of the Jewish nation upon 
those of their Gentile enemies. 

Jacob, say the Rabbis, would have had no daughters at all 
in his family, but only sons, had he not called himself El-elohe- 
Israel (Israel is God). 5 Therefore God was angry with him, 
for making himself equal with God, and in punishment he 
afflicted him with a giddy daughter. 6 

Esau, say the Mussulmans, had no prophets in his family 

1 Bereschith rabba, fol. 67, col. I. 2 Jalkut Cadasch, fol. 90, col. 3. 

3 Eisenmenger, i. p. 325. 4 Tabari, i. p. 206. 

A Gen. xxxiii. 20. 6 Jalkut Cadasch, fol. 91, col. 3. 



xxvii.] JOSEPH. 227 

except Job. All the prophets rose from the family of Jacob ; 
and when Esau saw that the gift of prophecy was not in his 
family, he went out of the land, for he would not live near his 
brother. 1 

The father of the Israelites, from the land of Canaan which 
he inhabited, could smell the clothes of Joseph when he was 
in Egypt, being a prophet ; and thus he knew that his son was 
alive. He was asked how it was that he divined nothing when 
his beloved son was cast into the pit by his brothers, and sold 
to the Ishmaelites. He replied that the prophetic power is 
sudden, like a lightning flash, piercing sometimes to the height 
of heaven ; it is not permanent in its intensity, but leaves at 
times those favored with it in such darkness that they do not 
know what is at their feet. 2 

The Arabs say that Jacob, much afflicted with sciatica, was 
healed by abstaining from the meat he most loved, and that 
was the flesh of the camel. At Jerusalem, say the Arabs, is 
preserved the stone on which Jacob laid his head when he 
slept on his way to Haran. 

The custom of saying " God bless you ! " when a person 
sneezes, dates from Jacob. The Rabbis say that, before the 
time that Jacob lived, men sneezed once, and that was the end 
of them — the shock slew them ; but the patriarch, by his in- 
tercession, obtained a relaxation of this law, subject to the 
condition that, in all nations, a sneeze should be consecrated 
by a sacred aspiration. 

XXVIII 
JOSEPH. 

Joseph's story is too attractive not to have interested in- 
tensely the Oriental nations in any way connected with him, 
md therefore to have become a prey to legend and myth. 

Joseph, say the Mussulmans, was from his childhood the 
best loved son of his father Jacob ; but the old man not only 
loved him, but yearned after the sight of him, for he was de- 
drived of the custody of Joseph from an early age. Joseph 
had been sent to his aunt, the sister of Isaac, and she loved 

1 Yaschar, pp. 1 167, 1 168. 

9 D' Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientate, s. v. Ais, i. p. 142. 



22 8 01 D TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxvm 

the child so dearly, that she could not endure the thought of 
parting with him. Therefore she took the family girdle, which 
she as the eldest retained as an heirloom, the girdle which 
Abraham had worn when he prepared to sacrifice his son, and 
she strapped it round Joseph's waist. 

Then she drew him before the judge, and accused him of 
theft, and claimed that he should be made over to her as a 
slave to expiate his theft. And it was done so. Thus the 
child Joseph grew up in her house, and it was not till after 
her death that he returned to his father Jacob. 

One morning Joseph related to his father a dream that he 
had dreamt ; he said that he and his brothers had planted 
twigs in the earth, but all the twigs of his brothers had 
withered, whereas his own twig had brought forth leaves, and 
flourished. 

Jacob was so immersed in thought over the dream, that he 
allowed a poor man who came begging to go away unrelieved, 
because unnoticed. 1 And this act of forge tfulness brought 
upon him some trouble, as we shall see. 

One morning Joseph related to him another dream ; he saw 
the sun, the moon, and the stars bow down before him. Ja- 
cob could no longer doubt the significance of these dreams, 
which showed him how great Joseph would be, but he cautioned 
him on no account to let his brothers know about them, lest 
they should envy him. 

He was so beautiful that he was called the Moon of Ca- 
naan, and he had on one of his shoulders a luminous point 
like a star, a token that the spirit of prophecy rested upon 
him. The brothers of Joseph, however, heard of the dreams, 
and they were greatly enraged, and they said, " Joseph and 
Benjamin are more loved of their father than we ten ; let us 
kill Joseph, or drive him out of the country, and when we 
have done this, we will repent at our leisure, and God will for- 
give us." 2 

One day the brothers went to feed their father's flock in 
Shechem. Then Israel said to Joseph, " Do not thy brethren 
feed in Shechem ? I am afraid lest the Hivite come upon 
them and smite them, and repay on me what Simeon and Levi 

1 This was Sammael, and he complained to God that Jacob had ne- 
glected the duty of hospitality, therefore he was suffered to afflict him foi a 
season. 

8 Tabari, i. p. 210. 



xxviil] JOSEPH. 229 

did to Shechem and Hamor, because of Dinah their sister. I 
will send thee to them to caution them to go elsewhere." 

And he said, "I am ready." So Joseph arose, and went 
to Shechem ; and Gabriel, in the likeness of a man, found him 
wandering in the field. And he said to him, " Thy brethren 
have journeyed hence. I heard of them, when I was in the 
presence of God, behind the veil, and that, from this day, the 
bondage of Egypt begins." l 

When Joseph came in sight, the brothers conspired to slay 
him, but Judah said, " Slay not Joseph, for to slay is a crime ; 
but* cast him into a well on the way that the caravans pass, 
that he may be found by a caravan, and be drawn out." Jo- 
seph was then aged seventeen. 

His brethren fell on him and stripped him, and were about 
to cast him into the well which was by the wayside to Jerusa- 
lem, when he said, " O my brothers, wherewith shall I cover 
my nakedness in this pit ? " 

They replied, " Bid the sun, the moon, and the stars, which 
adored thee, bring thee clothes to cover thy nakedness." 

Having thus mocked him, they let him down into the well. 
There was much water in it ; and a stone had fallen into it : 
on this Joseph stood, and was above the surface of the water/" 
Not so, say the Rabbis, it was dry, but it was full of scorpions 
and adders. 3 

Judah, according to the Mussulman account, had not con- 
sented to this, he being absent ; and when he had learned what 
had been done, he took food and let it down into the well, and 
told Joseph to be of good cheer, his brothers' anger would 
turn away, and then he would bring him back to them. But 
the Jews say that Reuben was absent, as he was fasting on a 
mountain, because he had incurred his father's anger, and was 
in disgrace, and he hoped, by restoring Joseph to Israel, to re- 
cover his father's favor. 

The sons of Jacob then slew a lamb and dipped the gar- 
ment of Joseph in the blood, and brought it to their father, 
and said, " We left Joseph in charge of our clothes, and a 
wolf has fallen upon him, and has devoured him." 

But Jacob looked at the garment and said, a I see that it 



1 Targums, i. p. 287. 2 Tabari, i. p. 211. 

3 Targums, i. p. 288. The account of the sale in Yaschar is very ]ang, 
arid full of details too numerous for insertion here (pp. 1 185-8). 



230 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxvni 

is bloody, but I see no rents ; the wolf was merciful to my son 
Joseph, for he ate him and left his garment whole ! " ' 

Then Jacob went to commune with God, and the spirit of 
prophecy came upon him, and he said, " No wolf, no enemy 
has slain him, but a bad woman is against him." 2 

Now Joseph was three days and three nights in the pit, but 
it was not dark, for the angel Gabriel hung in it a precious 
stone to give him light. 3 

The brethren of Joseph, seeing that their father mistrusted 
them, said to him, " We will go and catch the wolf that slew 
Joseph." 

He said, " Go and do so." 

So they went and chased and caught a monstrous wolf, and 
they brought him to their father and said, " This is the beast 
whereof we spoke to thee, that it had slain Joseph." 

But God opened the mouth of the wolf, and he said, " Son 
of Isaac, believe not the words of thy envious sons. I am a 
wolf out of a foreign land ; I one morning lost my young one 
when I woke up, and I have been straying in all directions to 
find it ; is it likely that I, mourning over the loss of a wild cub, 
should attack and kill a young prophet ? " 

Jacob released the wolf out of the hands of his sons, and 
he dismissed his sons, for he abhorred the sight of their faces ; 
only Benjamin, the brother of Joseph, and the youngest child 
of Rachel, did he retain near him. 4 

On the third morning, a party of Arabs passed near the 
well, and were thirsty Now the chief of these Arabs was 
Melek-ben-Dohar ; the second, who accompanied Melek, was 
an Indian, a freed man of Melek, and his name was Buschra. 

Melek reached the well carrying a bucket and a rope, and 
let down the bucket into the well. Then Joseph put his hand 
on it, and, however much Melek and Buschra pulled, they 
could not raise the bucket. Then Melek looked down into 
the pit, and exclaimed : " O Buschra, the bucket was heavy 
because a young man has hold of it." 

Now the face of Joseph illumined the well like a lamp : 
Buschra and Melek tried to raise Joseph, but they could not. 

Then Melek asked, " What is thy name, and whence art 
thou?" 

1 Tabari, i. p 212. 2 Targums, i. 289. 3 Weil, p. 102. 

4 Yaschar, tr. Drachs, p. 1192. 



xxviii.] JOSEPH. 231 

Joseph answered, "I am a young man of Canaan ; my 
brothers have cast me into this cistern, but I am not guilty." 

Melek said to his companions, M If we tell the rest of the 
caravan that we have drawn this youth out of the well, they 
will demand a share in the price he will fetch. Now I can 
sell this youth for a large sum in Egypt. I will therefore tell 
my comrades that I have bought him from some people who 
were at the well. Do thou say the same thing, and we will 
share the money between us." 

Next day, being the fourth day, the brethren, finding that 
their father's face was turned against them, went to the cistern 
to draw forth Joseph, and when they found him not, they went 
to the caravan, and they saw Joseph among the Arabs. 

Then they asked, " Whose is this lad ? " 

Melek-ben-Dohar replied, " He his mine." 

They answered, " He belongs to us ; he ran away from us." 

Melek replied, " Well, I will give you money for him." ' 

So he bought him for twenty pieces of silver • thus each of 
the brothers obtained two drachmae, and therewith they bought 
shoes. 2 To this the prophet Amos refers in two places (ii. 6 ; 
viii. 6), and in the Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, which 
is received as canonical by the Armenian Church, Zebulun re- 
lates the same circumstance, that the brethren supplied them- 
selves with sandals from the money which they got by the sale 
of Joseph. 

Joseph went along with the Ishmaelites till they passed 
his mother's tomb • then his grief overcame him, and he burst 
forth into bitter tears and cried, " O mother, mother ! I am an 
outcast and a slave, I the child of the wife Jacob loved. When 
thou wast dying, thou didst show me to my father, and bade 
him look on me, and be comforted for my loss. O mother, 
mother! hast thou no thought of thy son? Awake and see 
the miserable condition of thy child ; shake off thy sleep ; be 
my defence against my brethren, and comfort my father. 
Awake and stand up to judge my quarrel, awake and plead my 
cause with God ! awake and look upon the desolation of the 
soul of my father who cherished thee, and who for fourteen 
years served a hard bondage for his beloved Rachel ! Console 
him, I pray thee, and by the voice that he loves, soothe the 
4>riefof his last days." 

1 Tabari, i. pp. 213, 214. 8 Targums, i. 288. 



232 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxviii. 

It was moonlight, and the caravan was resting. 

A low voice issued from the tomb, " My son ! my son 
Joseph ! my child ! I have heard the voice of thy crying. I 
know all thou hast suffered, my son, and my grief is as deep as 
the sea. But put thy trust in God, who is the help of thy 
countenance and thy God ! Rise, my child, and have patience. 
If thou knewest the future, thou wouldst be comforted. 1 

One of the chiefs of the caravan, wearied with the cries of 
Joseph, came to drive him from the tomb, but suddenly a dark 
and threatening cloud appeared in the sky over his head, and 
he desisted in fear. 

In the Testament of the Twelve patriarchs, Benjamin says 
that a man struck Joseph as he lagged on the way, whereupon 
a lion fell upon the man and slew him. 

The sun was about to set, when the caravan entered Heli- 
opolis, the chief city of Egypt, which was then under the gov- 
ernment of Rajjan, an Amalekite. Joseph's face shone bright- 
er than the mid-day sun ; and as this new light from the east 
shone in the city, and cast the shadows towards the declining 
sun, all the women and damsels ran out upon the terraces or 
to the windows to see. 

Next day he was placed for sale before the palace of the 
king. All the wealthy ladies of Heliopolis sent their husbands 
or relations to bid for the beautiful youth, but he was purchased 
by Potiphar, the king's treasurer, 2 who was childless, and de- 
signed making Joseph his adopted son and heir. 

Zuleika, 8 Potiphar's wife, received him with great friendli- 
ness, gave him new clothes and a garden-house in which to 
live, as he would not sit down to eat with the Egyptians. He 
was occupied in tending the fruit and the flowers in Potiphar's 
garden ; and from her window Zuleika watched him. 

Thus Joseph served as gardener to Potiphar for six years. 

A graceful Arab legend of this period of Joseph's life de- 
serves not to be omitted. 

One day an Ismaelite passed the gate of Potiphar's garden, 
leading a camel. As the beast approached Joseph, who was 

1 Yaschar, pp. 1 188-9; Parrascha Wajescheb. This touching incident 
is common to Rabbinic and Mussulman traditions. It has been gracefully 
versified by Dr. Le Heris, " Sagen aus der Orient ;" Mannheim, 1852. 

2 His name in Arabic is Aziz. 

8 Zuleika is the name in Yaschar ; it is that also given her by the 
Arabs. 



xxviii.] JOSEPH. 233 

standing at the door, it bowed, refused to follow its master, 
and turning to Joseph, fell before him, and shed tears over his 
feet. 

Joseph recognized the camel as having once belonged to 
his father, and he remembered having often given it bread. 
He questioned the Ishmaelite, who acknowledged he had pur- 
chased the beast from Israel. 

Now Joseph loved Zuleika as much as she loved him, but 
he did not venture to hope that he was precious to his mistress. 

One day when a great feast of the gods was observed, all 
the household had gone to the temple, save Zuleika, who pre- 
tended to be ill, and Joseph, who worshipped the One true 
God. Zuleika prepared a table with wine and fruit and sweet 
cakes, and invited Joseph to eat with her. 

He was rejoiced, and his heart beat with passion ; and when 
he took the goblet of wine she offered him, he looked into her 
eyes, and saw that she loved him. Then, says the Rabbi Ish- 
mael in the Midrash, the form of his father Jacob appeared in 
the window or doorway, and thus addressed him : " Joseph ! 
hereafter the names of thy brothers engraven on gems shall 
adorn the breastplate of the High Priest, and shall thine be ab- 
sent from among them ? " Then Joseph dug his ten fingers 
into the ground, and so conquered himself. 1 

The Mussulmans say also that Joseph was brought to his 
senses by seeing the vision of his father in the door biting his 
finger reproachfully at him. 2 

When Potiphar returned home, Zuleika brought false accu- 
sations against Joseph, but a babe who was in its cradle, in the 
room, — the child was a relation of Zuleika, — lifted up its voice 
in protest, and said, "Potiphar, if you want to know the truth, 
examine the torn portion of the garment. If it is from the 
front of the dress, then know that Zuleika was struggling to 
thrust Joseph from approaching her \ if from the back, know 
that she was pursuing him." 

Potiphar obeyed the voice of the sucking child, and found 
that his wife had spoken falsely, and that Joseph was innocent. 3 

Now one of the neighbors had seen all that took place, for 

1 Tract. Sota., fol. 36, col. 2. The original account of this final detail 
is too absurd and monstrous to be narrated more particularly. 

2 Tabari, i. p. 217. 

3 Yaschar, p. UQ7. Nearly all these incidents in the life of Joseph are 
common to Jewish and Mussulman traditions. 



234 0LD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxvni. 

she was sick, and had not attended the feast, so the whole af- 
fair was soon a matter of gossip throughout the town. Then 
Zuleika invited all the ladies who had blamed her to a great 
feast in her house ; and towards the close of the banquet, when 
the fruit and wine were brought in, an orange and a knife were 
placed before each lady ; and at the same moment Joseph was 
brought into the room. The ladies, in their astonishment, cut 
their fingers in mistake for the oranges, for their eyes were fixed 
upon him, and they were amazed at his beauty ; and the table 
was deluged with blood. 

" This," said Zuleika, "is the youth on whose account you 
blame me. It is true that I loved him, but his virtue has op- 
posed me ; and now love is turned to hate, and I shall cast 
him into prison." 1 

She was as good as her word, and thus it fell out that Jo- 
seph was placed in the king's prison. But God would not suf- 
fer the innocent to be punished. He illumined his cell with a 
celestial light, made a fountain spring up in the midst of it, and 
a fruit-bearing tree to grow before the door. 2 

Joseph was five years in prison, and then the King of the 
Greeks, who was warring against Egypt, sent an ambassador to 
Raj j an desiring peace. But his true purpose was to throw him 
off his guard, that he might with treachery destroy him. The 
ambassador sought the advice of an old Greek woman who had 
long lived in Egypt. She said, " I know of only one way of 
accomplishing what you desire, and that is to bribe the butler 
or the baker of the king to poison him ; but it would be better 
to put the drug in the wine than in the bread." 

The ambassador then bribed the chief baker with much 
gold, and he promised to put poison in Pharaoh's meat. After 
that he told the old woman that one of the two she had named 
to him had been persuaded to destroy the king. 

Then the ambassador returned, and when he was gone, the 
woman disclosed all to Pharaoh, and she said, " Either the but- 
ler or the baker has taken a bribe to poison thee, O king." 
Thereupon the king cast both into prison, till it should be made 
manifest which was guilty. Now the name of the baker was 
Mohlib, and that of the butler was Kamra. 

1 Tabari, p. 220 ; Weil, p. 112 ; both taken from the Rabbinic story in 
Yaschar, p. 1195. 

2 Weil, p. 113. 



xxviii ] JOSEPH.\ 235 

After they had been in prison some time, they had dreams ; 
and they told their dreams to Joseph. 

The chief butler said, " I saw in my dream, and, behold, a 
vine was before me. And in the vine were three branches : 
and as it sprouted it brought forth buds, and immediately they 
ripened into clusters, and became grapes. And I saw till they 
gave the cup of Pharaoh into my hand, and I took the grapes 
and squeezed them into Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into 
Pharaoh's hand." 

And Joseph said to him, " This is the interpretation of the 
dream. The three branches are the three Fathers of the world, 
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whose children'are to be enslaved 
in Egypt in clay and brickwork, and in all labors of the face of 
the field ; but afterward shall they be delivered by the hand of 
three shepherds. As for the cup thou didst give into Pha- 
raoh's hand, it is the vial of the wrath of God, which Pharoah is 
to drink at the last. But thou, the chief butler, shalt receive 
a good reward : the three branches to thee are three days un 
til thy liberation." 

Joseph, leaving his higher trust in God, now turned and re- 
posed it in man, for he added, " Be thou mindful of me when it 
shall be well with thee, and obtain my release from this prison- 
house." 

And the chief baker, seeing that Joseph had interpreted 
well, began to speak with an impatient tongue, and said to Jo- 
seph, " I also saw in my dream, and, behold, three baskets of hot 
loaves were upon ray head • and in the upper basket of all, de- 
licious meat for Pharaoh, made by the confectioner • and the 
birds ate them from the basket upon my head/' 

Joseph answered, " This is its interpretation. The three 
baskets are the three enslavements with which the house of 
Israel are to be enslaved. But thou, the chief baker, shalt re- 
ceive an evil award. At the end of three days, Pharoah shall take 
away thy head from thy body, and will hang thee upon a gib- 
bet, and the birds shall eat thy flesh from off thee." 

And it fell out as Joseph had foretold. But because 
Joseph had withdrawn from putting his trust in God, and had 
laid it on man, therefore he was forgotten by the butler and 
left in prison for two years more. 1 

Joseph had now been seven years in prison, and this is why 

1 Targums, i. pp. 296-9 ; Midrash, fol. 45 ; Yaschar, p. 1200. 



236 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxviii. 

he had been so long there. Potiphar's wife persuaded her 
friends to bring against Joseph the same accusation that she 
had laid against him, and their husbands complained to Pha- 
raoh ; so he was kept in prison that he might not cause strife 
and evil in the city. 1 

When the seven years were elapsed, one day the butler came 
to the prison and bade Joseph follow him, as the King had 
been troubled with a dream, and desired to have it explained. 
But Joseph refused to leave till his innocence was proclaimed. 
He named to the butler the ladies who had attended the ban- 
quet of Zuleika, and before whom she had confessed that she 
loved him, and besought that they might be called as witnesses 
before the king. Pharoah agreed ; the ladies, when interro- 
gated, related all that had been said, and Zuleika herself con- 
fessed the truth. 

Then Pharaoh sent and fetched Joseph out of prison, and 
gave him his liberty. 

" I dreamed," said the king, when Joseph stood before his 
throne, " that seven lean cows ate seven fat cows, and that seven 
empty husks ate seven full ears of corn. What is the interpre- 
tation of this dream ?" 

" God will give thee seven fruitful years, and then seven years 
of famine," answered Joseph. " Therefore must thou gather 
together all the superfluity in the first seven years to sustain 
the starving people in the seven years of dearth." 2 

The king was so well pleased with this interpretation, that 
he made Joseph his chief treasurer in Potiphar's room. Joseph 
went through all the land, and purchased corn, which, on ac- 
count of the good harvests, was at a very low price. 

One day as he rode out of the town to view his magazines, 
he observed a beggar-woman whose whole appearance was 
most woe-begone, but bespoke her having seen better days. 
Joseph approached her with compassion, and held out to her 
a handful of gold. She hesitated about taking it, and said, 
sobbing, " Great prophet of God ! I am not worthy to receive 
this at thy hand, though it was my love for thee which was the 
first step orr the ladder on which thou mountedst to thy pres- 
ent exaltation." And Joseph saw that the poor beggar-woman 
was Zuleika, wife of Potiphar. 

1 Midrash, fol. 45. 

8 Weil, p. 116 ; Tabari, i. c. 44 ; Gen. xli. ; Yaschar, pp. 1202-8.. 



xxvin.] JOSEPH. 237 

He asked about her husband, and learned that shortly after 
he had been deposed from office, he had died of distress of 
mind and body. "Thou hast thought evil of me," she said, 
"but I have great excuses, thou wast so beautiful; and more- 
over I was young, and only a wife in name, for I am as I left 
my mother's womb, a maiden, with the seal of God upon 
me." 

Then Joseph was filled with joy. He extended his hands 
to her, and he brought her to the king's palace, and she was 
treated there with care as a sister, till she recovered her bloom 
and joy, and then Joseph took her to be his wife. 1 And 
by her he had two sons before the seven years of dearth 
began, during which the Egyptians gave first their gold, and 
their apparel and all their movable goods ; then their land, 
then their slaves, and last of all themselves, their wives and 
children, as bondsmen, that they might have food. 

But not only did Egypt suffer, the adjoining lands were also 
afflicted with scarcity. There was no corn in Canaan, and 
Jacob sent his ten sons into Egypt to buy corn, retaining Ben- 
jamin at home. He cautioned his sons not to create mistrust 
by their numbers, nor cause the evil eye to light on them, and 
advised them to enter the city of Pharaoh by different gates, 
for it had ten. 

But Joseph expected that his brothers would be coming to 
Egypt, and therefore he bade the gatekeepers every day bring 
him the names of those who had entered the city. One day 
one porter gave him the name of Reuben, son of Jacob ; and 
so on to the tenth, Asher, son of Jacob. Joseph at once gave 
orders for every storehouse to be closed with the exception of 
one, and gave the keepers of the open magazine the names of 
his brothers, and said to them, " When these people arrive take 
them prisoners, and bring them before me." 

And when they appeared before him, he charged them with 
being spies : " For," said he, " if ye were true men, ye would 
have come in together ; but ye entered by different gates, and 
that shows that ye are set upon evil." 2 

When, to excuse themselves, they told their family history, 

1 This conclusion of the loves of Zuleika and Joseph completes the ro- 
mance, and makes it a most popular subject for poets in the East. Both 
Jewish and Mussulman traditions give Zuleika a very different character 
from that which Holy Scripture leads one to attribute to her. 

2 Midrash, Jalkut, fol. 46. 



238 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxyiii. 

he bade them go and bring Benjamin down to him, and, to se- 
cure their return, he kept Simeon in prison as hostage. 

When Joseph wanted to imprison Simeon, his brothers de- 
sired to assist him by force, but Simeon refused their assistance. 
Joseph ordered seventy fighting men of Pharaoh's body-guard 
to cast him down and handcuff him. But when they approach- 
ed, Simeon gave a scream, and the seventy fell back on the 
ground, and their teeth went down their throats. " Hah ! " 
said Joseph to his son Manasseh, who stood near him, " throw 
a chain about his neck." 

Manasseh dealt Simeon a blow, and chained him. " Then," 
said Simeon, " this blow comes from one of the family." 1 

Jacob, reluctant to part with Benjamin, was however obliged 
to do so, being pressed with famine. Joseph received the 
brethren, measured out to them the wheat, and, by his orders, 
his steward secretly put the silver cup of Joseph into the sack 
of Benjamin. Then at the gate of the city they were charged 
with theft, and were brought back to the palace of Joseph. 

" What is the penalty due to him who has stolen my cup ? " 
asked Joseph. 

" Let him be thy slave," answered the brethren, feeling 
confident in their innocence. But when the sacks v/ere opened, 
and his cup was found in that of Benjamin, they said to their 
youngest brother, " Woe to thee ! what hast thou done ? Wast 
thou resolved to follow the example of thy lost brother, who 
stole his grandfather Laban's idol, and his aunt's girdle?" 

But as they had sworn to their father to restore Benjamin 
to him, they besought Joseph to take one of them in the place 
of Benjamin. But Joseph persisted that he would keep Ben- 
jamin. 

Then said Reuben to his brothers, " Go back to our father, 
and tell him all that has occurred ; I, the eldest of you, who 
undertook on the security of my life to bring Benjamin home, 
must remain here till he himself calls me back, for he will see 
that we have stood hostages for a thief." 2 

Now Reuben had a fierce temper, and when he became 
furious, all the down or hair on his skin bristled and penetrated 
his clothes like needles ; he pulled oif his head-gear, and utter- 
ed a scream so terrible that all who heard it died of terror. 
This frenzy of Reuben's could only be abated by one of the 

1 Midrash, Jalkut. fol. 46. * Weil, p. 122. 



xxvni.] JOSEPH. 239 

family of Jacob placing his hand upon him. Reuben went up 
to Joseph, and said, " great one of Egypt, I am in a rage ; 
and if I scream out, all who hear me will die of fright. Re- 
store to me my brother, or I shall scream, and then thou and 
all the inhabitants of Egypt will perish." 

Joseph knowing that Reuben spoke the truth, and seeing 
his hair bristling through his clothes like needle-points, and 
knowing also that if any one of the house of Jacob were to lay 
his hand on the body of Reuben, his force would pass away, — 
he said to Ephraim, his son, " Go softly, so that Reuben may 
not observe thee, and lay thine hand upon his shoulder that 
his anger may abate." Ephraim did as he was bidden, and in- 
stantly the hairs of Reuben sank, and his fury passed away, 
and he felt that the power to scream was gone from him. 

Then Joseph said calmly, "I shall retain Benjamin, do 
what you will." 

Reuben made an effort to scream, but it was unavailing. 
Then astonishment got hold of him, and he said to Joseph, 
" I think that there must be one of the family of Jacob in 
this house." x 

Then Joseph ordered Benjamin to be chained. And when 
Judah saw this he roared like a lion, and his voice was so 
piercing, that Chuschim, the son of Dan, who was in Canaan, 
heard him, and began to roar also. 

And Judah drew his sword, and roared, and pursued the 
Egyptian soldiers sent to bind Benjamin, and the fear of him 
fell on them all, and they fell, and he smote them up to the 
gates of the king's palace ; and he roared again, and all the 
walls of Memphis rocked, and the earth shook, and Pharaoh 
was shaken off his throne and fell on his face, and the roar of 
Judah was heard four hundred miles off. 

Joseph feared to be killed by Judah. When Judah was 
angry, blood spirted from his right eye. Judah wore five sets 
of clothes upon him, one above another ; and when he was 
angry, his heart swelled so as to tear them all. Joseph, fearing 
him, roared at him, and his voice shivered a pillar of the palace 
into fine dust, so that Judah thought, " This is a great hero ! 
he can master me." 2 

1 Tabari, i. p. 247 ; taken from the Rabbinic Yaschar (Sepher Hajas- 
char), p. 1226, 

2 Midrash, Jalkut. fol. 47 ; Yaschar, p. 1225 ; Berescheth Rabba„ 
fol. 84, col. 4. 



240 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxvin. 

Then said Judah to Joseph, " Let our brother go, or we will 
devastate this land." 

Then Joseph answered, " Go home, and tell your father that 
a wild beast has devoured him." 

Then Judah beckoned to his brother Naphtali, who was very 
swift of foot, and said to him, " Run speedily and count all the 
streets in Egypt, and come swiftly back and tell me." 

But Simeon said, " There is no need ; I will break a stone 
out of the mountains and throw it down on the land of Egypt, 
and will utterly destroy it" ! 

Then Joseph saw that it was not well to press them further ; 
so he took a bowl, and filled it, and looked into it as though 
he were divining by it, and said suddenly, "Ye are liars ! Ye 
told me that your brother Joseph was dead, and behold he is 
alive, and I see him in this bowl ! Ye sold him." 

Then he bade Zuleika bring the deed of sale, and he handed 
it to Judah. Thereupon the brothers knew him, and fell down 
before him, and besought him to pardon them. 

Then he told them how God had exalted him, and he com- 
forted their hearts, and after that he asked news of his father. 

They replied, " He is blind with grief at having to part with 
Benjamin." 

Therefore Joseph said, " Take my shirt and go to my father, 
and pass my shirt before his face, and he will recover his sight. 
Then take all that you have, and come down into Egypt." " 

When the caravan left Memphis, the sons of Jacob carried 
with them abundance of corn and the shirt of Joseph ; and 
the wind was in their backs, and blew the scent of the shirt 
from the gate of Memphis into Canaan. And Jacob snuffed 
the wind, and said, " O women ! O children ! I can smell 
Joseph." 

They all thought, " He is deranged," but they said, " It is 
forty years since Joseph died, and thou canst think of nothing 
else ; thou art always insisting that he is alive." 

When the caravan was near the dwelling of Jacob, Judah 
brought the shirt of Joseph in, and said, " On the day upon 
which I bore the bloody coat of Joseph, I said a wolf had 
devoured him. Now I bring thee good news." And he cast 

1 Yaschar, p. 1226. 

2 This was the shirt given Abraham by Gabriel, to preserve him from 
the fire into which Nimrod cast him ; it was fragrant with the odors of 
Paradise. 



xxviii.] JOSEPH. 241 

the shirt upon the face of his father, and Jacob recovered his 
sight. 1 

The story in the Sepher Hadjaschar, or Book of Jasher, is 
more poetical. As the sons were approaching the home of 
their father, Sarah, the adopted daughter of Asher, came to 
meet them. She was very beautiful and graceful and modest, 
and could play sweetly on the harp. They gave her the kiss 
of peace, and told her the tidings. Then she went singing 
home, accompanying her words upon the harp, "Joseph is not 
dead, God has been his protector, and he lives, and is gov- 
ernor in Egypt ; rejoice and be glad of heart ! " Then Jacob 
was filled with hope and consolation, and be said, " Because 
thou hast revived my spirit, my daughter, death shall never 
seize on thee." 2 

After that, Jacob went down into Egypt, that he might see 
his son Joseph before he died. And when they met, they fell 
on one another's neck and wept, and kissed ; and Jacob said to 
his son, " Tell me, I pray thee, what evil thy brothers did to 
thee." But Joseph answered, " Nay, my father, I will tell thee 
only how great good the Lord did to me." 

We have heard how that Joseph married Zuleika, the wife 
Potiphar, but this is not a universal tradition. It is said in 
Genesis that he had to wife Asenath, daughter of Potipherah, 
priest of On. Many suppose that this Asenath was the 
daughter of Potiphar, the old master of Joseph, and that her 
mother was Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, and the following 
story is related of Asenath : — 

She was a maid of wondrous beauty, of which she was very 
proud, and she greatly despised all men, though she had never 
seen any, saving her father. She dwelt in a tower next to her 
father's house, ten stories high, which contained every thing that 
the eye could desire, and also idols in gold and silver, which 
she daily worshipped. Asenath was as tall as Sarah, as 
comely as Rebekah, and as beautiful as Rachel. 

Now Joseph, being on his way through Egypt, sent down to 
the priest Potipherah, to command him to bring his daughter 
before him. Thereupon Potipherah was glad, and told his 
daughter that Joseph, the Strength of God, was coming, and 
that she should become his wife. At this Asenath was very 
indignant, and spoke angry words of Joseph, declaring that she 

1 Korcm, Sura xii. ; Tabari, i. pp. 250, 251. * Yaschar, p. 1227. 
II 



242 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxviil 

would be wife to no man, saving to a king's son. Now, while 
she thus spake, Joseph came, seated in the chariot of Pharaoh, 
which was all of gold, drawn by four horses white as snow, 
with gilt reins. And Joseph was dressed in a radiant tunic, 
with gold embroidery, and a robe of crimson woven with gold 
hung from his shoulders, and a fillet of gold was about his tem- 
ples, and in his hand was an olive branch full of fruit. 

Then Potipherah came with his wife, and did him homage. 
Joseph entered the hall, and the doors were shut, and Asenath 
beheld him, and she was troubled at what she had said of him, 
and thought, " This is the sun come from heaven ; I knew not 
before that Joseph was divine. What father hath begotten so 
much beauty, or what mother borne so much light ? " 

Then Joseph said, " Who was that woman that was here,, 
but hath gone ? " for Asenath had hastened to her chamber. 

And Potipherah said, " My lord, my daughter is a maiden,, 
and very modest ; she hath, till this day, seen no man save my- 
self. If it please thee, she shall come and salute thee." 

Then Joseph said, " If thy daughter be a maiden, I will 
treat her as a sister." 

They brought her into his presence, and Potipherah said to 
her, " Salute thy brother, who hateth women as thou hatest 
men." 

And Asenath said, " Hail, blessed of God, who giveth life 
to all ! " 

Then Potipherah bade his daughter kiss Joseph, but when 
she approached him, he thrust forth his hand and said, " It 
becomes not the man worshipping the living God to kiss art 
outlandish woman whose lips kiss dumb idols." 

Asenath hearing these words, fell into great grief and wept. 
Joseph had compassion on her, and laid his hand on her head 
and blessed her, and Asenath was glad because of his bene- 
diction. But she went to her couch in the tower, and was ill 
with fear and pain, and she turned with penitence from her 
idols, and renounced them, and cast them out of her window. 

Joseph ate and drank, and went his way, promising to re- 
turn in eight days. Then Asenath put on a black robe, and 
closed her door and prayed, and cast her food to the dogs, and 
laid her head on the pavement, and wept seven days. 

Then an angel visited her, and gave her honey gathered 
from the roses of paradise ; and the honey was so sweet, that 
when she had tasted it she could not doubt whence it had 



xxix.] TESTAMENTS OF THE PATRIARCHS, 243 

come, and she felt herself enlightened by the true God ; and 
the angel signed the honey with the cross, and the trace of his 
finger was blood. Along with faith and hope, charity enlight- 
ened her heart, and she besought of the angel to give of this 
honey to the seven maidens who attended on her ; and when 
they obtained this favor, they all became like their mistress, 
servants of the Most High. Then the angel bade her lay 
aside her tears and black garment, and rejoice, for her prayer 
was heard. 

At that moment one of the servants of Potipherah entered, 
saying, " Behold, Joseph, the Strength of God, approaches ; go 
ye out to meet him ? " 

Now when Joseph had alighted down from his chariot, he 
came into the hall ; and when he knew that Asenath had cast 
away her idols, he rejoiced greatly, and he sought her in mar 
riage of Potipherah, and the Priest of On made a great supper, 
and gave his daughter to Joseph, and he called Joseph the 
lord of lords, and Asenath he called the daughter of the Most 
High. 1 



XXIX. 

THE TESTAMENTS OF THE TWELVE PATRI- 
ARCHS. 

The "Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs " is one of the 
seventy-two apocryphal books of the Old Testament which 
were at one time in circulation, and, according to Epiphanius, 
it formed one of the twenty- two canonical books sent by the 
Jews to Ptolemy, king of Egypt. 2 

It was a work of Jewish origin, which has been tampered 
with and interpolated by Christian copyists. S. Augustine 
numbers it with the Apocrypha ; he says, " There are the apoc- 
ryphal books of the Old Testament : the works falsely attrib- 
uted to Enoch, the Patriarchs, the Discourse of Joseph, the 
Assumption of Moses, the pseudographia of Abraham, Eldad 
and Medad, Elias the piophet, the prophet Zephaniah, Zecha- 
riah, Baruch, Habakkuk, Ezekiel, and Daniel. " 

1 Vita Aseneth, filiae Potipharis ; a Greek apocryphal book, in Fabri 
•cius, iii. p, 85. 

- Lib. de Mensuris et Ponderibus, § 10. 



244 0LD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxix 

Curiously enough, the Testament of the Patriarchs contains 
a large number of alleged quotations from the book of Enoch, 
which are not, however, to be found in that book as we now 
have it. 

This Testament was read by the Jews at the time of Christ's 
coming, and S. Paul seems to have been acquainted with it, for 
he quotes it, " Awake, thou that steepest, and arise from the 
dead; " ' and again he quotes the Testament of Levi, " The 
wrath is come upon them to the uttermost" 2 S. Jerome remarks 
on this, " The Apostle Paul quoted from the hidden prophets 
and from those books which are called Apocrypha," and he 
adds, " That he did so in several other places is very evident." y 
And Origen says, " It is evident that many examples were 
quoted and inserted in the New Testament by the Apostles 
and the Evangelists from those Scriptures which we do not 
read as canonical, but these passages are found in the apocry- 
phal books, and it is evident that these passages were extract- 
ed from them ; " and he gives the reason why that was lawful 
to the Apostles which is not lawful to us. 

He says, " It may have been, that the Apostles and Evan- 
gelists, filled with the Holy Ghost, may have known what was 
to be taken from these writings and what was to be rejected ; 
but for us to presume to do such a thing would be full of dan- 
ger, not having the Spirit in the same measure to guide us." 4 

'Robert Grostete, Bishop of Lincoln, translated the Testa- 
ment of the twelve Patriarchs into Latin, in 1242, according 
to Matthew Paris. " Also in this time, Robert, Bishop of Lin- 
coln, a man most skilled in Latin and Greek, translated accu- 
rately the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs from the Greek 
into Latin ; which for many years had been unknown and 
concealed, through the jealousy of the Jews, because of the 
prophecies concerning our Saviour therein contained. But 
the Greeks, the most indefatigable investigators of all writings, 
being the first who learnt about this, translated it from Hebrew 
into Greek, and kept it to themselves until our own time. For 
in the time of S. Jerome, or of any other holy interpreter, it 
could not in any way whatever come to the knowledge of the 
Christians, on account of the scheming malice of the Jews. 
Therefore the above-named Bishop, assisted by Master Nich- 

1 Ephes. v. 14. 2 Thess. ii. 16. 3 Commen. in Eph. loc. cit. 
4 Prolog, infin. Duarum Horn, in Cant. Canticorum. 



nx, JOB 245 

olas, a Greek, and clerk to the Abbey of S. Albans, translated 
clearly, evidently, and word for word, into Latin, that glorious 
treatise, to the strengthening of the Christian faith, and to the 
greater confusion of the Jews." * 

The Testaments were published by Grabe, at Oxford, in 
1698, and were republished by Fabricius in his " Codex Pseud- 
epigraphus Vet Testamenti," at Hamburg, in 1722.* 



XXX. 
JOB. 

Job was the great grandson of Esau. He was the son of 
Amos the son of Zara, the son of Esau, and he had to wife^ 
Rahma, daughter of Ephraim, son of Joseph. Ephraim left twa 
sons, who were prophets after him ; but amongst the children of 
Esau there was no prophet, saving Job. 

Job was more patient than any other prophet ; therefore it 
is said of him in the Koran, " Certainly we have found this 
excellent servant patient." 3 

The Rabbis say that Job, Jethro, and Balaam were King^ 
Pharaoh's three councillors, and they were also his chief magi- 
cians. They, by their enchantments, drew a line round the 
land of Egypt, so that no slave could escape out of it ; for 
when he came to the line, he was held back and could not 
overleap it. But when the Israelites broke away and disre- 
garded the enchanted line, Job, Jethro, and Balaam gave up 
their witchcrafts, and turned to the service of the living God. 4 

Job lived in Bashan, which lies between Damascus and 
Ramla, and there he reigned as a prince. Job had five hun- 
dred yoke of oxen, and to every yoke there was a she-ass to 
carry the instruments of husbandry. He had also a thousand 
flocks of sheep, and a thousand sheep in each flock. He had 
ten children, seven sons and three daughters ; all were grown 
up.* 

In the "Testament of Job," 6 we read that this great man, 

1 Matt. Paris, Chronicle, ed. Bohn, vol. i. pp. 437, 438. 

• T. i., pp. 496-759- 

• Koran. Sura xxxviii. v. 43-4. Job in Arabic is Ai'ub. 

4 Eisenmenger, h. p. 439. * Tabari, i. p. 256. 

6 Mai' (Angelus), Test, job : Romae, 1839. 



34 6 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxx. 

illumined by the Divine light, comprehended that the idols 
which his people adored were no gods, and that there was but 
one only true God, the Creator and Preserver of all things. 
There was near his house an idol which attracted great wor- 
ship. He prayed the Lord to show him whether this idol were 
a demon or not ; and he promised, in that case, to destroy 
it and purify the place ; and this he was able to do, being a sov- 
ereign. 

God sent him an angel, who illumined him, and strength- 
ened him in his resolution. So he destroyed the idol, and abol- 
ished its worship. But this act drew upon him the wrath of 
Satan. The angel had foreseen the disasters which would be- 
fall Job if he resolved to strive against the Evil One, and he 
bad warned Job what to expect ; but Job answered that, being 
convinced of the truth, he was ready to suffer for it. 

Satan presented himself at the door of Job's house. He 
had taken upon him the form of a pilgrim, and he said to the 
portress, "I desire to see the faithful servant of the Most 
High." 

Now Job, who had received the gift of prophecy, knew that 
this was the Evil One, and he refused to see him, saying to the 
gate-keeper when she brought the message, "Tell him that 
I am occupied, and that I cannot receive him." 

Satan retired, but he returned soon after, disguised as a 
beggar, and he said to the portress, " Go and ask Job to give 
me a morsel of bread." 

" Tell him," replied Job, "that I will not give him of the 
bread I eat, because I will not have any thing in common with 
him. But offer him this burnt crust, that he may not say I 
sent him empty away." 

The servant, not venturing to give the burnt crust, because 
she was not aware who the beggar was, offered him some good 
bread. But Satan, who knew what Job had commanded, thrust 
it away, saying, " Begone, bad servant, and bring me the bread 
you were told to give me." 

The portress replied : " You say well, I am a bad servant, 
for I have not done that which I was commanded to do. Here 
is the crust my master ordered me to give you. He will not 
have any thing in common with you ; no ! not even the bread 
he eats ; but he sends you this, that it may not be said of him 
that he dismissed thee empty from his door without an alms." 

Satan took the charred crust, and bade the servant tell Job 



xxx. I • JOB. 247 

that he would soon render to him such measure as he had 
dealt to him. 1 

Then Satan ascended to God, and desired permission to 
afflict and prove Job. And when leave was given him, he de- 
scended to earth, and breathed such a hot blast, that all the 
cattle, and sheep, and servants of Job were burnt up. Then 
Satan took the form of a slave, and ran and told the prophet. 
Job answered, " The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away ; 
blessed be the name of the Lord ! " 

Then Satan went and shook the earth under the house 
where the sons and daughters of Job were assembled, and the 
house fell and destroyed them all. 

Satan immediately hastened in the disguise of a servant to 
Job, and told him what had taken place. He said, " O Job ! 
God has shaken down the house about your children, and they 
are dead. Had you seen their bleeding faces and broken 
limbs, and their brains bespattering the stones, and had heard 
their piercing cries, you would have been heart-broken.' ' 

Job wept, and lifted his eyes to God ; and he knew who 
addressed him, and he said, " Satan ! it is thou who comest to 
tempt me and to cast doubt into my heart, and mistrust in the 
wisdom and goodness of God • get thee hence." 

Satan then blew a hot breath up the nose of Job, and 
poisoned all his blood. His body became scarlet next day, 
and the day after was covered with ulcers from head to foot ;; 
there was no whole place in him, except the head, the tongue, 
the eyes, and the heart ; for over these portions God had not 
given Satan power. 

All Job's friends deserted him and fled ; Rahma, 2 his wife, 
alone remained, and she spent on him the rest of his posses- 
sions, but he was not cured of his disease. And this was why 
all his possessions went — Satan stole them away ; and thus in 
a short time he was reduced to penury, and Rahma went frcm 
house to house begging alms for his support. 

Satan saw that he could not triumph so long as the wife 
remained with her husband ; she was a comfort and joy to 
him, and he cared not for possessions, or children, or health, 
so long as his wife was at his side ; therefore, he sought occa- 
sion to separate them. One day, as Rahma was carrying food 

1 Mai* (Angelus), Test. Job ; Romae, 1839. 

9 In the " Testament of Job " she is called Sitis. 



S 4 8 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxx. 

to Job, Satan presented himself before her in the form of an 
old man, and asked her, " Rahma ! art thou not the daugh- 
ter of Ephraim, the son of Joseph ? " She replied, "I am." 

Then said the Evil Angel, " In what condition do I see 
thee ? " She answered, " My husband Job has fallen into pov- 
erty, and I serve him." 

He said, " Do not serve him, for when thou touchest him, 
the poison of his disease passes into thy veins." 

She replied, " He is my husband, and I must attend on him 
as long as I live, in health or sickness." 

Then Satan retired, despairing of seducing her from her 
duty. Rahma told Job all that had been said to her. 

The prophet said, " O woman ! he whom you have seen is 
Satan, and he desired to separate us. Do not speak to him 
again when he addresses you." 

Some time after, the Evil One presented himself before the 
faithful wife under the form of a beautiful youth ; and said to 
her, "What woman art thou, who art so radiant in beauty?" 
She answered, I am the wife of a poor man, named Job." 

He said, " O woman ! what hast thou, wkh thy wondrous 
beauty, to do with a poor sick husband ? Go, be divorced 
from thy husband, and marry me. I have great possessions, 
and I will treat thee as a queen." 

She answered, " I am the wife of a prophet ; I desire noth- 
ing higher." 

Then Satan withdrew, despairing of seducing her from her 
duty. Rahma told Job all that had been said to her. 

Job said, " O woman ! did I not tell thee to speak with 
him no more ; why hast thou disobeyed my voice ? That was 
Satan, and he sought to separate us. Do not speak to him 
again when he addresses thee." 

Some time after, the Evil One presented himself before the 
faithful wife, under the form of an angel ; and said to her, " O 
woman, daughter of a prophet ! I am an angel sent from God 
with a message to thee." 

She said, " What message ? " 

He said, " Behold the Most High is wroth with Job, for he 
renders no thanks for all the good things He gave to him ; 
therefore hath the Lord rejected him from being a prophet, and 
he shall fall from worse to worse, till he is cast into the flames 
of hell ; we, the angels of God, curse him, and do thou, daugh- 
ter of a prophet, avoid him, lest thou come into the same con- 
demnation." 



xxx. J JOB. 249 

When Rahma heard these words, she wept, and said, " Af- 
ter so many afflictions, shall the name of Job be taken from 
the number of the prophets ? And after so many sufferings 
shall he perish everlastingly ? " 

Then she went to Job and told him all that had been said 
to her. 

Job was greatly angered when she told him the tenor of 
the words, and he cried out, " Have I not warned thee these 
two times not to speak with him, who is the author of my af- 
fliction ? Wait till I am well, and I will give thee a hundred 
strokes with a rod." ! 

But the story is told differently by others. It is said that 
the third time Satan appeared as a baker, and Rahma wanted 
bread, but had nought to pay. Then said the pretended baker, 
" Thou hast locks of very beautiful hair ; cut off thy hair and 
give it me, and thou shalt take the largest of my loaves." 

Then she cut off three locks and gave them to him. 

And when Job saw that she had done this, he was filled 
with fury, and he swore that when he was well he would beat 
her for having cut off her hair. 9 

Thus Satan triumphed in making Job to sin by swearing, 
and threatening to ill-treat a true and good woman. 

Next the Evil One went as an angel, and announced to all 
the people of the land that he came from God to declare to 
them that Job was no more reckoned among the prophets ; 
and that they were not to trust his words and believe his doc- 
trine, but were to return to the worship of those gods he had 
blasphemed and cast out. 

Soon after, Job heard his three friends, Bildad, Eliphaz, 
and Zophar, converse together, and repeat what had been told 
them by Satan ; and the thought that he was supposed to be 
rejected by God from among His prophets, was so distressing 
to him, that he cried out, " Truly, O God ! evil has befallen me ; 
but Thou art the most merciful of those who show mercy." 3 
That is, the words of men are cruel, but Thou, O God, wilt de- 
liver me out of all my evils. 

Job was sick for seven years, and all that while his wife min- 
istered to him. 

But the mediaeval commentators draw a very different pic- 

1 Taban, i. c. lxvi ; Abulfeda, pp. 27-29. • Testament of Job. 

8 Koran, Sura xxi. v. 83. 



3 5 o OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxx. 

ture of this wife, relying on the words of Scripture which make 
her tempt Job to " curse God and die." They say that her tongue 
was one of the plagues of Job. That he bore patiently the loss 
of his cattle, of his children, and of his health, was indeed won- 
derful ; but that he also endured the nagging of his wife with 
equanimity, — that was the most wonderful of all. 

Then God looked on Job and had compassion upon him, 
and he said to him, " Strike the earth with thy foot." l Job 
stamped, and from the dung-heap on which he had been 
seated a clear stream of water issued, the sweetest that there 
is, and the water continued to flow. Then God said to Job, 
" Wash in this water." 

Rahma, the wife of Job, poured the water upon his head 
and over his body, and he washed himself. All the sores that 
were on his flesh disappeared, and he was healed ; there was 
not a scar left, and he appeared more beautiful than before he 
was afflicted. 

Then God said to Job, " Drink of the water." 

Then all the worms that were in the inside of Job died, 
and he was quite whole. Now this took place in Bashan, and 
the fountain remains to this day, and is called Qarya-Aiyub, 
and the city near which it is, Airs-Aiyub. " I have seen the 
city of the fountain, " says the Persian translator of Taban : 
" every person who goes there, affected by internal or external 
maladies, and washes and drinks of that water, is healed of his 
disease." 2 

Then God said to Job, " Fulfil thy vow, and take in thine 
hand a bundle of rods." 3 But the rods God told him to take 
were light sticks ; and he took a hundred of these, and bound 
them together and smote Rahma with them, and he did not 
hurt her. By this action of Job, the Mussulman doctors sup- 
port their advice to those who have taken rash oaths to clear 
themselves by a subterfuge. Thus, if a man has sworn he will 
not enter his house again, he is recommended to allow himself 
to be bound hand and foot and be carried into his home. Or, 
if he has sworn to recite the whole Koran, it will be sufficient 
for him to say the word " Koran," and listen to the imaum 
reading before the assembly. 

Then God restored to Job double all that he had lost ; and 

1 Koran, Sura xxxviii. v. 41. * Tabari, i. p. 263. 

J Koran, Sura xxxviii. v. 43. 



xxxi.] JETHRO. 251 

Job lived, after he was recovered of his disease, twenty years, 
and he died at the age of ninety-three. 

The worms which had devoured the body of the prophet, 
God turned into silk-worms ; and the flies which had bitten him 
and tormented his sores, converted He into honey-bees ; and 
before this there were neither silk-worms nor honey-bees on 
the earth. Also the rain and the snow which fell within his 
possessions, were grains of gold and pearl. 

Isidore of Seville places the fountain which cured Job in 
Idumaea. He says, it is clear during three months of the year, 
troubled during the next three, then for three months it is 
green, and for the last three, it is red. 

In the " Testament of Job," we read some details con- 
cerning his death, written by his brother Nahor. 

After three days of sickness, Job, lying on his bed, saw 
the angels come to receive his soul. After having divided his 
substance between his seven sons (for, after his troubles, he 
became the father of seven sons and three daughters), he gave 
his daughters three mantles of inestimable price, which he had 
received from heaven. To the eldest, Hem era (Jemima), he 
gave his harp • to the second, Cassia (Keziah), he handed his 
censer ; to the third, Keren-happuch, he remitted his tam- 
borine : and as he sang his last hymn to the Most High on 
his death-bed, Hemera and Keren-happuch accompanied him 
with harp and timbrel, and Cassia cast up fumes of sweet in- 
cense. Thus they greeted the messengers of heaven who 
came for the soul of Job. 



XXXL 
JETHRO. 

As has already been related, Jethro formed one of the 
council of Pharaoh till he found that his incantations had no 
effect on the Israelites. He escaped from Egypt before Job ; 
for he had found in the palace of the king the staff of Joseph 
which had been cut from the Tree of Life, and therewith he 
hied him into the land of Midian, along with his daughter 
Zipporah. 

According to Mussulman tradition, Jethro, whom the Arabs 
call Schohair or Schohaib, was a great prophet ; and he was 



2 S 2 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxn. 

sent by God to the Midianites to call them to repentance and 
the rejection of polytheism. Jethro was old and nearly blind. 
He preached to the people and exhorted them with many 
words and for a long season, but all his words were in vain ; 
the Midianites would not be converted, and at length they 
openly accused him of being a false prophet, and denied that 
God had sent him. 

Therefore God gave over this nation to destruction. He 
sent a fiery breath upon the land, and the people could not 
bear the great heat, and retired into the fields, where there was 
shadow ; for God sent a cloud to hide the face of the sun, 
and it cast a blot of shade upon the fields. But there were 
old men and women and little children, and the sick who could 
not leave the city and take refuge in the shade. 

Slowly the cloud came down from heaven, like the lid of a 
saucepan, and covered all the Midianites that were in the field, 
and the cloud was of fire, and they fried "as fish fry in an 
oven." Then the angel Gabriel gave a great shout, and all 
that were in the city, saving Jethro and his family, died of 
fright when they heard his cry. 

Then Jethro lived in the land of Midian till Moses came 
to him out of Egypt. 1 



XXXII. 
MOSES.* 

I. ISRAEL IN EGYPT. 

After the death of Jacob, his descendants were drawn 
into servitude by soft and hypocritical speeches. Fifty-four 
years had passed since the death of Joseph. 

Joseph had had the good fortune to acquire the favor of 
Mechron, the son and successor of that Pharoah who had 

1 Tabari, i. c. lxvii ; Abulfeda p. 31. 

* The early portion of the life of Moses has been elaborated from 
Rabbinic sources by Dr. B. Beer. Unfortunately he died before the work 
was completed, and it has been published as a fragment by his friend, G. 
Wolf. It extends only as far as his marriage with Zipporoh. (Leben 
Moses nach Auffassung der Judischen Sage, von Dr. B. Beer; ein Frag- 
ment. Leipzig, 1863.) It is for the most part, compiled from the Sepher 
Hajasher, or Book of Jasher. 



xxxil] MOSES. 253 

raised him from the dungeon to be second in the kingdom. 
Almost all the inhabitants of Egypt had loved Joseph ; only a 
few voices were raised in murmurs at a foreigner exercising 
such extensive powers. 

The successors of the patriarchs mingled among the people 
of the land and learned their ways ; and many of them aban- 
doned the rite of circumcision, and spoke the language of 
Mizraem. 

Then God withdrew His protection for a while ; and the 
former love of the Egyptians towards the Hebrews was turned 
into implacable hatred. By degrees the privileges of the chil- 
dren of Israel were encroached upon, and they were oppressed 
with heavy taxes, from which hitherto they had been held 
exempt. 

Afterwards the king exacted from them their labor with- 
out pay ; he built a great castle and required the Hebrews to 
erect it for him at their own cost. 

Twenty-two years after the death of Joseph, Levi died, who 
had outlived all his other brothers. 

Fields, vineyards, and houses, which Joseph had given to 
his brethren, were now reclaimed by the natives of Egypt, and 
the children of Israel were enslaved. 

The Egyptians, effeminate, and hating work, fond of pleasure 
and display, had envied the prosperity of the Hebrews, who 
had thriven in Goshen, and whose wives bore sometimes six 
and sometimes twelve infants at a birth. 

They also feared lest this people, increasing upon them, 
should become more numerous than they, and should seize upon 
the power, and enslave the native population. 

Nine years after the death of Joseph, King Mechron died, 
and was succeeded by his son Melol. 

But before pursuing the history of the oppression of the 
Hebrews, we must relate some events that had occurred before 
this time. 

When the body of Jacob, according to the last will, had 
been taken to the cave of Machpelah, Esau and his sons and a 
large body of followers hastened to oppose the burial of Jacob. 
After the death of Isaac, Esau and Jacob had come to an agree- 
ment, by which all the movable property of the father was 
made over to Esau, and all that was immovable, especially 
the burial cave, was apportioned to Jacob. But now Esau de- 
sired to set aside this agreement, and, as first-born, to claim 



254 0LD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxn. 

the tomb as his, trusting that the sons of Jacob could not prove 
the agreement. 

But no sooner had he raised this objection, than Naphtali, 
who was swift of foot, ran into Egypt, and returned in a few 
hours with the writing of agreement. 

Esau, seeing himself baffled, had recourse to arms ; and a 
fight took place, in which Esau was killed, and his followers 
were put to flight or taken as captives to Egypt, where they be- 
came the slaves of the Israelites. Amongst those captives was 
Zepho, son of Eliphaz, son of Esau. 

Even in Joseph's lifetime, the Edomites made incursions 
into Egypt to recover their captive relatives, but their attempts 
led to no other result than the tightening of the chains which 
bound the captives. Later, however, Zepho succeeded in ef- 
fecting his escape, and he took refuge with Angias, king of Din- 
haba (Ethiopia), who made him chief captain of his host. 

Zepho persuaded the king to make war upon Egypt. Among 
the servants of Angias was a youth of fifteen, named Balaam, 
son of Beor, very skilful in the arts of witchcraft. The king 
bade the youthful necromancer divine who would succeed in 
the proposed war. Balaam formed chariots ' and horses and 
fighting men of wax, plunged them in water, which he stirred 
with palm twigs ; and it was seen by all who stood by, that the 
men and horses representing the Egyptians and Hebrews 
floated, whereas those representing the Ethiopians sank. 

Angias, deterred by this augury, refused to have any thing 
to do with a war against Egypt. Then Zepho left him, and be- 
took himself to the land of the Hittites, and he succeeded in 
combining that nation, the Edomites, and the Ishmaelites to- 
gether in making an invasion of Egypt. 

To repel them, the Hebrews were summoned from the land 
of Goshen, but the Egyptians would not receive their allies into 
the camp, fearing lest they should unite with their kindred na- 
tions, and deliver them up to destruction. 

Zepho now asked Balaam, who had followed him, to divine 
the end of the battle, but the attempt failed ; and the future re- 
mained closed to him. But Zepho, full of confidence, led the 
combined army against the Egyptians, repulsed them at every 
point, and drove them back upon the camp of the Hebrews. 
Then the Israelites charged the advancing forces flushed with 
victory, who, little expecting such a determined onslaught, were 
thrown into confusion, and routed with great loss. The He- 



xxxii.] MOSES. 255 

brews pursued them to the confines of Ethiopia, cutting them 
down all along the way, and then they desisted and returned : 
and on numbering their band — they were but a handful — they 
found that they had not lost one man. They now looked out 
for their allies, the Egyptians, and found that they had desert- 
ed and fled ; therefore, full of wrath, they returned to Goshen 
in triumph, and slew the deserters, with many words of con- 
tempt and ridicule. 3 

Thus the Hebrews were puffed up with pride, regarding 
themselves as invincible ; and the Egyptians were filled with 
dread, lest this small people should resolve on seizing upon the 
supremacy, and should subjugate them. 

Therefore the reigning Pharaoh and his council assembled 
to consult what should be done ; and this was decided : — " The 
cities Pithom and Rameses (Tanis and Heliopolis) are not 
strong enough to withstand a foe, therefore they must be 
strengthened/ ' And a royal decree went forth over all the 
land of Egypt and Goshen, commanding all the inhabitants, 
both Egyptians and Hebrews, to build. Pharaoh himself set 
the example by taking trowel and basket in hand, and putting 
a brick mould on his neck. Whoever saw this hastened to do 
likewise, and all who were reluctant were stimulated by the 
overseers with these words, " See how the king works. Will 
you not imitate his activity ? " 

Thus the Israelites went to the work, and laid the mould 
upon their necks, little suspecting the guile that was in the 
hearts of the king and his councillors. 

At the close of the first day, the Hebrews had made a large 
number of bricks ; and this number was now imposed upon 
them as the amount of their daily task. 

Thus passed a month, and by degrees the Egyptian work- 
men were withdrawn, yet the Hebrews were paid the regular 
wage. 

When a year and four months had elapsed, not an Egyptian 
was to be seen making bricks and building ; and the wage was 
stopped for the future, but the Hebrews were kept to their work. 

The harshesr and most cruel men were appointed to be 
their overseers, and if one of the Israelites asked for his wage, 
or fainted under his burden, he was beaten or put in the stocks. 

1 Yaschar, pp. 1241-53. The history of Zepho is quite a romance, too 
long for insertion here. 



256 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxn. 

When Pithom and Rameses were walled, the Israelites 
were employed to strengthen with forts all the other cities of 
Egypt, then to build storehouses and pyramids, to dig canals 
for the Nile, and to rear dykes against the overflow. They 
were also employed to dig and plough the fields, to garden 
and prune the fruit-trees, and to exercise trades. They were 
engaged from early dawn till late at night, and because the 
way from their homes was often far, they were forced to sleep 
in the open air, upon the bare ground. 1 

As the life of the Israelites became embittered to them, 
they called the king Meror, "the embitterer, ,, instead of Melol, 
" the grinder," though that was appropriate enough, one would 
have supposed. 2 

But matters grew worse ; the Edomites and Hittites again 
threatened Egypt, and Pharaoh ordered a closer guard to be 
kept, and heavier tasks to be laid upon the Hebrews. 

Notwithstanding all attempts to crush the spirit of this un- 
fortunate people and to diminish their numbers, they were sus- 
tained by hope in God, for a voice was heard from heaven, 
" This people shall increase abundantly, and multiply." 

Whilst the men of Israel slept exhausted after their unspeak- 
able oppression of mind and body, the faithful women labored to 
relieve and strengthen them. They hastened to the springs to 
bring pure water to their husbands to drink, and, by the mercy 
of the All Merciful, it fell out that their pitchers were found, 
each time, to contain half water and half fish. 

These gentle and diligent women dressed the fish, and pre- 
pared other good meats for their husbands, and they sought 
them at their work with the food, and with their cheerful words 
of encouragement. This loving attention of the women soothed 
the hearts of the men, and gave them fresh energy. 

When 125 years had elapsed since Jacob came into Egypt 
the fifty-fourth year after Joseph's death, the elders and coun- 
cillors of Egypt presented themselves before Pharaoh, and com- 
plained to him that the people increased and multiplied and 
became very great in the land, so that they covered it like the 
bushes in the wood ; and two of the king's councillors, of whom 
one was Job of Uz, said to Pharaoh, " It was well that heavy 
tasks were laid upon the Hebrews, but that doth not suffice ; 
it is needful that they should be diminished in number as well 

1 Yaschar, pp. 1248, 1249; 1253, 1254. * Ibid., p.1255. 



xxxii.] MOSES. 257 

as enslaved. Therefore give orders to the nurses to kill every 
male child that is born to the Hebrews, but to save the women 
children alive." 

This council pleased the king well ; and what Job had ad- 
vised was put in operation. 

Pharaoh summoned the two Hebrew midwives before him ; 
they were mother and daughter ; some say their names were 
Jochebed and Miriam, but others Jochebed and Elizabeth. 
Now, Miriam was only five years old, nevertheless she was of 
the greatest assistance to her mother in nursing women. Both 
showed the utmost kindness to the new-born children, washed 
and brushed them up, said pretty things to them, and strength- 
ened the mothers with cordials and tonic draughts. To their 
care the Israelites were indebted for the graceful and vigorous 
forms of their children ; and the two women were such favor- 
ites with the people, that they called the one Shiphrah (the 
soother or beautifier) and the other Puah (the helper). 

When they appeared before the king, and heard what he 
designed, Miriam's young face flushed scarlet, and she said, 
in anger, " Woe to the man ! God will punish him for his 
evil deed." 

The executioner would have hurried her out, and killed her 
for her audacity, but the mother implored pardon, saying, " O 
king ! forgive her speech ; she is only a little foolish child." 

Pharaoh consented, and assuming a gentler tone, explained 
that the female children were to be saved alive, and that the 
male children were to be quietly put to death, without the 
knowledge of the mothers. And he threatened them, if they 
did not obey his wishes, that he would cast them into a furnace 
of fire. Then he dismissed them. But the two midwives would 
not fulfil his desire. 

And when Pharaoh found that the men-children were saved 
alive, he shut up the two midwives, that the Hebrew women 
might be without their succor. But this availed not. And God 
ewarded the midwives ; for of the elder Moses was born. 

Five years passed, and Pharaoh dreamed that, as he sat upon 
his throne, an old man stood before him holding a balance. 
And the old man put the princes, and nobles, and elders of 
Egypt, and all its inhabitants into one scale, and he put into 
the other a sucking child, and the babe outweighed all that was 
in the first scale. 1 

1 Midrash, fol. 51 ; Yaschar, p. 1157. 



258 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxn. 

When Pharaoh awoke, he rehearsed his dream in the ears 
of his wise men and magicians and soothsayers, and asked them 
the interpretation thereof. 

Then answered Balaam, who, with his sons Jannes and 
Jambres, was at the court, and said, " O king, live forever ! 
The dream thou didst see has this signification. A child 
shall be born among the Hebrews who shall bring them with 
a strong hand out of Egypt, and before whom all thy nations 
shall be as naught. A great danger threatens thee and all 
Egypt." 

Then said Pharaoh in dismay, " What shall we do ? All 
that we have devised against this people has failed." 

" Let the king suffer me to give my advice," said Jethro, 
one of his councillors. And when Pharaoh consented, he said, 
" May the king's days be multiplied ! This is my advice ; the 
people that thou oppressest is a great people, and God is their 
shield. All who resist them are brought to destruction ; all 
who favor them prosper. Therefore, O king, do thou withdraw 
thy hand, which is heavy upon them ; lighten their tasks, and 
extend to them thy favor." 

But this advice pleased not Pharaoh nor his councillors ; 
and his anger was kindled against Jethro, and he drove him 
from his court and from the country. Then Jethro went with 
his wife and daughter, and dwelt in the land of Midian. 

Then said the king, " Job of Uz, give thy opinion." 

But Job opened not his lips. 

Then rose Balaam, son of Beor, and he said, " O my king, 
all thy attempts to hurt Israel have failed, and the people 
increase upon you. Think not to try fire against them, for 
that was tried against Abraham their father, and he was saved 
unhurt from the midst of the flames. Try not sword against 
them, for the knife was raised against Isaac their father, and 
he was delivered by the angel of God. Nor will hard labor 
injure them as thou hast proved. Yet there remains water, 
that hath not yet been enlisted against them ; prove them with 
water. Therefore my advice is — cast all their new-born sons 
into the river." a 

The king hesitated not ; he appointed Egyptian women to 
be nurses to the Hebrews, and instructed them to drown all 
the male children that were born ; and he threatened with death 

1 Midrash Jalkut, fol. 52 ; Yaschar, pp. 1257-9. 



xxxii.J MOSES. 259 

those who withstood his decree. And that he might know 
what women were expecting to be delivered, he sent little 
Egyptian children to the baths, to observe the Hebrew women, 
and report on their appearance. 

But God looked upon the mothers, and they were delivered 
in sleep under the shadow of fruit-trees, and angels attended 
on them, washed and dressed the babes, and smeared their 
little hands with butter and honey, that they might lick them, 
and, delighting in the flavor, abstain from crying, and thus 
escape discovery. Then the mothers on waking exclaimed : — 
" O most Merciful One, into Thy hands we commit our chil- 
dren ! " But the emissaries of Pharaoh followed the traces of 
the women, and would have slain the infants, had not the earth 
gaped, and received the little babes into a hollow place within, 
where they were fed by angel hands with butter and honey. 

The Egyptians brought up oxen and ploughed over the 
spot, in hopes of destroying thereby the vanished infants ; but, 
when their backs were turned, the children sprouted from the 
soil, like little flowers, and walked home unperceived. Some 
say that 10,000 children were cast into the Nile. They were 
not deserted by the Most High. The river rejected them upon 
its banks, and the rocks melted into butter and honey around 
them and thus fed them, 1 and oil distilled to anoint them. 

This persecution had continued for three years and four 
months, when, on the seventh day of the twelfth month, Adar, 
the astrologers and seers stood before the king and said, " This 
day a child is born who will free the people of Israel ! This, 
and one thing more, have we learnt from the stars, Water will 
be the cause of his death f but whether he be an Egyptian or 
an Hebrew child, that we know not." 

" Very well," said Pharaoh ; " then in future all male chil- 
dren. Egyptians as well as Hebrews, shall be cast indiscrim- 
inately into the river." 

And so was it done. 3 

2. THE BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD OF MOSES. 

Kohath, son of Levi, had a son named Amram, whose life 

1 The curious passages, Isaiah vii. 15, 22, may allude to this tradition. 

2 Moses' life was shortened because he brought water out of the rock 
contrary to God's command (Numb, xxvii. 14), striking the rock instead of 
speaking to it. 

3 Beer. pp. 112-6. 



2 6o OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxil. 

was so saintly, that death could not have touched him, had not 
the decree gone forth, that every child of Adam was to die. 

He married Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, his aunt, and 
by her he had a daughter Miriam ; and after four years she 
bore him a son, and he called his name Aaron. 

Now when it was noised abroad that Pharaoh would slay 
all the sons of the Hebrews that were born to them, Amram 
thrust away his wife, and many others did the same, not that 
they hated their wives, but that they would spare them the 
grief of seeing their children put to death. 1 After three years, 
the spirit of prophecy came on Miriam, as she sat in the house, 
and she cried, " My parents shall have another son, who shall 
deliver Israel out of the hands of the Egyptians ! " Then she 
said to her father, " What hast thou done ? Thou hast sent 
thy wife away, out of thine hou^e, because thou couldest not 
trust the Lord God, that He would protect the child that might 
be born to thee." 

Amram, reproved by these words, sought his banished wife ; 
the angel Gabriel guided him on his way, and a voice from 
heaven encouraged him to proceed. And when he found 
Jochebed, he led her to her home again.* 

One hundred and thirty years old was Jochebed, but she 
was as fresh and beauteous as on the day she left her father's 
house. 3 She was with child, and Amram feared lest it should 
be a boy and be slain by Pharaoh. 

Then appeared the Eternal One to him in a dream, and 
bade him be of good cheer, for He would protect the child, 
and make him great, so that all nations should hold him in 
honor. 

When Amram awoke, he told his dream to Jochebed, and 
they were filled with fear and great amazement. 

After six months she bore a son, without pain. The child 
entered this world in the third hour of the morning, of the 
seventh day of the month Adar, in the year 2368 after the 
Creation, and the 130th year of the sojourn of the Israelites in 
Egypt. And when he was born, the house was filled with 
light, as of the brightest sunshine. 

1 Some authorities say that Jochebed, when thrust away, married Eliph- 
azan, the son of Parnach (Numb, xxxiv. 25), and bare him two sons, Eldad 
and Medad (Numb. xi. 15) ; but others, with more probability, assert that 
she married Eliphazan after the death of Amram. (Yaschar, p. 1259.) 

2 Yaschar, p. 1260. 3 Targum of Palestine, i. p. 446. 



mxii.J MOSES. 261 

The tender mother's anxiety for her son was increased 
when she noted his beauty, — he was like an angel of God, — 
and his great height and noble appearance. The parents 
called him Tobias (God is good) to express their thankfulness, 
but others say he was called Jokutiel (Hope in God). Amram 
kissed his daughter, Miriam, on the brow, and said, " Now I 
know that thy prophecy is come true." * 

Jochebed hid the child three months in her chamber where 
she slept. But Pharaoh, filled with anxiety, lest a child should 
have escaped him, sent Egyptian women with their nurslings to 
the houses of the Hebrews. Now it is the custom of children, 
when one cries, another cries also. Therefore the Egyptian 
women pricked their babes, when they went into a house, and 
if the child were concealed therein, it cried when it heard the 
Egyptian baby scream. Then it was brought out and de- 
spatched. 

Jochebed knew that these women were coming to her house, 
and that, if the child were discovered, her husband and her- 
self would be slain by the executioner of Pharaoh. 

Moreover they feared the astrologers and soothsayers, that 
they would read in the heavens that a male child was con- 
cealed there. "Better can we deceive them, ,, said Amram, 
"if we cast the child into the water." 

Jochebed took the paper flags and wove a basket, and 
pitched it with pitch without, and clay within, that the smell 
of the pitch might not offend her dear little one ; and then she 
placed the basket amongst the rushes, where the Red Sea at 
that time joined the River Nile. 

Then weeping and wailing, she went away, and seeing 
Miriam come to meet her, she smote her on the head, and 
said, " Now, daughter, where is thy prophesying ? " 

Miriam followed the little ark, as it floated on the wash of 
the river, and swam in and out among the reeds ; for Miriam 
was wondering whether the prophecy would come true, or 
whether it would fail. This was on the twenty-first of the 
month Nisan, on the day, chosen from the beginning, on which 
in after times Moses should teach his people the Song of 
Praise for their delivery at the Red Sea. 2 

Then the angels surrounded the throne of God and cried, 
" O Lord of the whole earth, shall this mortal child fore-or- 

1 Rabboth, fol. 118 a. * Exod. xv. 1. 



262 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxif. 

dained to chant, at the head of Thy chosen people, the great 
song of delivery from water, perish this day by water ? " 

Tne Almighty answered, "Ye know well that I behold all- 
things. They that seek their salvation in their own craftiness 
and evil ways shall find destruction, but they who trust in Me 
shall never be confounded. The history of that child shall 
be a witness to My almighty power." 

Melol, king of Egypt, had then only one daughter, whom 
he greatly loved ; Bithia (Thermutis or Therbutis) 1 was her 
name. She had been married for some time to Chenephras, 
prince of a territory near Memphis, but was childless. This 
troubled her greatly, for she desired a son who might succeed 
her father upon the throne of Egypt. 

At this time God had sent upon Egypt an intolerable heat, 
and the people were affected with grievous boils. 2 To cure 
themselves, they bathed in the Nile. Bithia also suffered, and 
bathed, not in the river, but in baths in the palace ; but on 
this day she went forth by the Nile bank, though otherwise she 
never left her father's palace. On reaching the bathing-place 
she observed the ark lodged among the bulrushes, and sent 
one of her maids to swim out and bring it to her ; but the oth- 
er servants said, " O princess, this is one of the Hebrew chil- 
dren, who are cast out according to the command of thy royal 
father. It beseems thee not to oppose his commands and 
frustrate his will." 

Scarcely had the maidens uttered these words than they 
vanished from the surface of the earth. The angel Gabriel 
had sunk them all, with the exception of the one who swam 
for the ark, into the bosom of the earth. 

But the eagerness of the princess was so great, that she 
could not wait till the damsel brought her the basket, and she 
stretched forth her arm towards it, and her arm was lengthen- 
ed sixty ells, so that she was able to take hold of the ark and 
draw it to land, and lift the child out of the water. 

No sooner had she touched the babe, than she was healed 
of the boils which afflicted her, and the splendor of the face 
of the child was like that of the sun. 3 She looked at it with 
wonder, and admired its beauty. But her father's stern law 
made her fear, and she thought to return the child to the wa- 

1 The Arabic name for her is Asia ; Yaschar, p. 1261. 

2 Targum of Palestine, i. p. 446 ; Yaschar, p. 1261. 

3 Midrash, fol. 51. 



xxxii.] MOSES. 263 

ter, when he began to cry, for the angel Gabriel had boxed his 
^ars to make him weep, and thus excite the compassion of the 
princess. Then Miriam, hid away among the rushes, and lit- 
tle Aaron, aged three, hearing him cry, wept also. 

The heart of the princess was stirred ; and compassion, 
like that of a mother for her babe, filled her heart. She felt 
for the infant yearning love as though it were her own. " Tru- 
ly," said Bithia, " the Hebrews are to be pitied, for it is no easy 
matter to part with a child, and to deliver it over to death." 

Then, fearing that there would be no safety for the babe, 
if it were brought into the palace, she called to an Egyptian 
woman who was walking by the water, and bade her suckle 
the child. But the infant would not take the breast from this 
woman, nor from any other Egyptian woman that she sum- 
moned ; and this the Almighty wrought that the child might 
be restored to its own mother agab. 

Then Miriam, the sister, mingled with those who came up, 
and said to Bithia, with sobs, " Noble lady ! vain are all thine 
attempts to give the child the breast from one of a different 
race. If thou wouldst have a Hebrew woman, then let me fetch 
one, and the child will suck at once." ! 

This advice pleased Bithia, and she bade Miriam seek her 
out a Hebrew mother. 

With winged steps Miriam hastened home, and brought her 
mother, Jochebed, to the princess. Then the babe readily took 
nourishment from her, and ceased crying. 

Astonished at this wonder, the king's daughter said, but 
unawares, the truth, for she spake to Jochebed, " Here is thy 
child ; take and nurse the child for me, and the wage shall be 
two pieces of silver a day." 

Jochebed did what she was bidden, but better reward than 
all the silver in Pharaoh's house was the joy of having her son 
restored to his mother's breast. 

The self-same day the soothsayers and star-gazers said to 
Pharaoh, " The child of whom we spake to thee, that he should 
free Israel, hath met his fate in the water." 

Therefore the cruel decree ordering the destruction of all 
male infants was withdrawn, and the miraculous deliverance of 
Moses became by this means the salvation of the whole gener- 
ation. In allusion to this, Moses said afterwards to the peo- 
ple when he would restrain them (Numbers xi.) : "Verily ye 

1 Midrash, fol. 51 ; Yaschar, p. 1262. 



264 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxn. 

number six hundred thousand men, and ye would all have per- 
ished in the river Nile, but I was delivered from the water, and 
therefore ye are all alive as at this day." 

After two years Jochebed weaned him, and brought him to 
the king's daughter. Bithia, charmed with the beauty and in- 
telligence of the child, took him into the palace, and named 
him Moses (he who is drawn out of the water). Lo ! a voice 
from heaven fell, " Daughter of Pharaoh ! because thou hast 
had compassion on this little child and hast called him thy son, 
therefore do I call thee My daughter (Bithia). The foundling 
that thou cherishest shall be called by the name thou gavest 
him — Moses; and by none other name shall he be known, 
wheresoever the fame of him spreads under the whole heaven." 

Now, in order that Moses might really pass for the child of 
Bithia, the princess had feigned herself to be pregnant, and 
then to be confined ; and now Pharaoh regarded him as his 
true grandchild. 

On account of his exceeding beauty, every one that saw him 
was filled with admiration, and said, " Truly, this is a king's 
son." And when he was taken abroad, the people forsook their 
work, and deserted their shops, that they might see him. One 
day, when Moses was three years old, Bithia led him by the 
hand into the presence of Pharaoh, and the queen sat by the 
king, and all the princes of the realm stood about him. Then 
Bithia presented the child to the king, and said, " Oh, sire ! 
this child of noble mien is not really my son ; he was given to 
me in wondrous fashion by the divine river Nile; therefore 
have I brought him up as my own son, and destined him to 
succeed thee on thy throne, since no child of my body has 
been granted to me." 

With these words Bithia laid the boy in the king's arms, 
and he pressed him to his heart, and kissed him. Then, to 
gratify his daughter, he took from his head the crown royal, 
and placed it upon the temples of Moses. But the child ea- 
gerly caught at the crown, and threw it on the ground and then 
alighting from Pharaoh's knee, he in childish fashion danced 
round it, and finally trampled it under his feet. 1 

The king and his nobles were dismayed. They thought 
that this action augured evil to the king through the child that 
was before them. Then Balaam, the son of Beor, lifted up his 

1 Midrash, fol. 52 ; Yaschar, p. 1263. 



xxxir.J MOSES. 265 

voice and said, " My lord and king ! dost thou not remember 
the interpretation of thy dream, as thy servant interpreted it 
to thee ? This child is of Hebrew extraction, and is wiser and 
more cunning than befits his age. When he is old he will take 
thy crown from off thy head, and will tread the power of Egypt 
under his feet. Thus have his ancestors ever done. Abraham 
defied Nimrod, and rent from him Canaan, a portion of his 
kingdom. Isaac prevailed over the king of the Philistines. 
Jacob took from his brother his birthright and blessing, and 
smote the Hivites and their king Hamor. Joseph, the slave, 
became chief in his realm, and gave the best of this land to 
his father and his brethren. And now this child will take from 
thee the kingdom, and will enslave or destroy thy people. 
There is no expedient for thee but to slay him, that Egypt be- 
come not his prey.' 

But Pharaoh said, " We will takt other counsel, Balaam, 
before we decide what shall be done with this child. " 

Then some advised that he should be burnt with fire, and 
others that he should be slain with the sword. But the angel 
Gabriel, in the form of an old man, mingled with the council- 
lors, and said, " Let not innocent blood be shed. The child 
is too young to know what he is doing. Prove whether he has 
any understanding and design, before you sentence him, O 
king ! let a bowl of live coals and a bowl of precious stones be 
brought to the little one. If he takes the stones, then he has 
understanding, and discerns between good and evil ; but if he 
thrusts his hands towards the burning coals, then he is inno- 
cent of purpose and devoid of reason." * 

This advice pleased the king, and he gave orders that it 
should be as the angel had recommended. 

Now when the basins were brought in and offered to Moses, 
he thrust out his hand towards the jewels. But Gabriel, who 
had made himself invisible, caught his hand and directed it to- 
wards the red-hot coals ; and Moses burnt his fingers, and he 
put them into his mouth, and burnt his lips and tongue ; and 
therefore it is that Moses said, in after days, " I am slow of lips 
and slow of tongue." 3 

Pharaoh and his council were now convinced of the sim- 

1 According to another version, it was Jethro who advised that the child 
should be proved with the basins of rubies and coals (Rabboth, fol. 1 18 b ; 
Yaschar, pp. 1263, 1264). 

* Exod. iv. 10. 
12 



266 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxtf. 

plicity of Moses, and no harm was done him. Then Bithia 
removed him, and brought him up in her own part of the 
palace. i 

God was with him, and he increased in stature and beauty,, 
and Pharaoh's heart was softened towards him. He went ar- 
rayed in purple through the streets, as the son of Bithia, and a 
chaplet of diamonds surrounded his brows, and he consorted 
only with princes. When he was five years old, he was in size 
and knowledge as advanced as a boy of twelve. 

Masters were brought for him from all quarters, and he was 
instructed in all .the wisdom and learning of the Egyptians ; 
and the people looked upon him with hope as their future sov- 
ereign. 



3. THE YOUTH AND MARRIAGE OF MOSES. 

Moses, as he grew older, distinguished himself from all oth- 
er young men of Egypt by the conquest which he acquired over 
himself and his youthful passions and impetuous will. Although 
the life of a court offered him every kind of gratification, yet 
he did not allow himself to be attracted by its pleasures, or to 
regard as permanent what he knew to be fleeting. Thus it 
fell out, that all his friends and acquaintances wondered at 
him, and doubted whether he were not a god appeared on 
earth. And, in truth, Moses did not live and act as did others. 
What he thought, that he said, and what he promised, that he 
fulfilled. 

Moses had reached the summit of earthly greatness ; ac- 
knowledged as grandson to Pharaoh, and heir to the crown. 
But he trusted not in the future which was thus offered to hinn 
for he knew from Jochebed, whom he frequently vi/yted, what 
was his true people, and who were his real parents. And the 
bond which attached him to his own house and peuple was in 
his heart, and could not be broken. 

Moses went daily to Goshen to see his relations ; and he 
observed how the Hebrews were oppressed, and groaned under 
their burdens. And he asked wherefore the yoke was pressed 
so heavily on the neck of these slaves. He was told of the ad- 
vice of Balaam against the people, and of the way in which 

1 Beer, pp. 26-42. Abulfaraj says that Jannes and Jambres were the s u« 
tors of Moses in his youth (Hist. Dynast., p. 17). 



xxxti.] MOSES. 267 

Pharaoh had sought the destruction of himself in his infancy. 
This information filled Moses with indignation, and alienated 
his affections from Pharoah, and filled him with animosity to- 
wards Balaam. 1 But, as he was not in a position to rescue his 
brethren, or to punish Balaam, he cried, " Alas ! I had rather 
die than continue to behold the affliction of my brethren." 
Then he took the necklace from off him, which indicated his 
princely position, and sought to ease the burden of the Israel- 
ites. He took the excessive loads from the women and old 
men, and laid them on the young and strong ; and thus he 
seemed to be fulfilling Pharaoh's intentions in getting the work 
of building sooner executed, whereas, by making each labor ac- 
cording to his strength, their sufferings were lightened. And 
he said to the Hebrews, " Be of good cheer, relief is not so far 
off as you suppose — calm follows storm, blue sky succeeds black 
clouds, sunshine comes after rain. The whole world is full of 
change, and all is for an object." 

Nevertheless Moses himself desponded ; he looked with 
hatred upon Balaam, and lost all pleasure in the society of the 
Egyptians. Balaam seeing that the young man was against 
him, and dreading his power, escaped with his sons Jannes and 
Jambres to the court of Ethiopia. 

The young Moses, however, grew in favor with the king, 
who laid upon him the great office of introducing illustrious 
foreigners to the royal presence. 

But Moses kept ever before his eyes the aim of his life, to 
relieve his people from their intolerable burdens. One day he 
presented himself before the king and said, " Sire ! I have a 
petition to make of thee." 

Pharaoh answered, " Say on, my son." 

Then said Moses, " O king ! every laborer is given one day 
in seven for rest, otherwise his work becomes languid and un- 
profitable. But the children of Israel are given no day of rest, 
but they work from the first day of the week to the last day, 
without cessation ; therefore is their work inferior, and it is not 
executed with that heartiness which might be found, were they 
given one day in which to recruit their strength." 

Pharaoh said, " Which day shall be given to them ? " 

Moses said, " Suffer them to rest on the seventh day." 

The king consented, and the people were given the Sar> 

1 Yaschar, p. 1265. 



2 68 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxir. 

bath, on which they ceased from their labors ; therefore they 
rejoiced greatly, and for a thousand years the last day of the 
week was called " The gift of Moses." l 

As the command to destroy all the male children had been 
withdrawn the day that Moses was cast into the Nile, the 
people had multiplied greatly, and again the fears of the Egyp- 
tians were aroused. Therefore the king published a new de- 
cree, with the object of impeding the increase of the bonds- 
men. 

He required the Egyptian task-masters to impose a tale of 
bricks on every man, and if at evening the tale of bricks was 
not made up, then, in place of the deficient bricks, even though 
only one brick was short, they were to take the children of 
those who had not made up their tale, and to build them into 
the wall in place of bricks; 2 Thus upon one misery another 
was piled. 

In order that this decree might be executed with greater 
certainty, ten laborers were placed under one Hebrew overseer, 
and one Egyptian task-master controlled the ten overseers. 
The duty of the Hebrew overseers was to wake the ten men 
they were set over, every morning before dawn, and bring them 
to their work. If the Egyptian task-masters observed that 
one of the laborers was not at his post, he went to the over- 
seer, and bade him produce the man immediately. 

Now one of these overseers had a wife of the tribe of Dan, 
whose name was Salome, daughter of Dibri. She was beauti- 
ful and faultless in her body. The Egyptian task-master had 
observed her frequently, and he loved her. Then, one day, he 
went early to the house of her husband, and bade him arise, 
and go and call the ten laborers. So the overseer rose, noth- 
ing doubting, and went forth, and then the Egyptian entered 
and concealed himself in the house. But the overseer return- 
ing, found him, and drew him forth, and asked him with what 
intent he had hidden himself there ; and Moses drew nigh. 
Now Moses was known to the Hebrews as merciful, and ready 
to judge righteously their causes ; so the man ran to Moses, 
and told him that he had found the Egyptian task-master con- 
cealed in his house. 

And Moses knew for what intent the man had done thus, 
and his anger was kindled, and he raised a spade to smite the 
man on the head and kill him. 

1 Yaschar, p. 1265. 8 Ibid, p. 1263. 



xxxii.] MOSES. 269 

But whilst the spade was yet in his hand, before it fell, 
Moses said within himself, " I am about to take a man's life ; 
how know I that he will not repent ? How know I that if I 
suffer him to live, he may beget children who will do right- 
eously and serve the Lord ? Is it well that I should slay this 



man 



?» 



Then Moses' eyes were opened, and he saw the throne of 
God, and the angels that surrounded it, and God said to him, 
" It is well that thou shouldst slay this Egyptian, and there- 
fore have I called thee hither. Know that he would never 
repent, nor would his children do other than work evil, wert 
thou to give him his life." 

So Moses called on the name of the Most High and smote ; 
but before the spade touched the man, as the sound of the 
name of God reached his ears, he fell and died/ 

Then Moses looked on the Hebrews who had crowded 
round, and he said to them, " God has declared that ye shall 
be as the sand of the sea-shore. Now the sand falls and it is 
noiseless, and the foot of man presses it, and it sounds not. 
Therefore understand that ye are to be silent as is the sand 
of the sea-shore, and tell not of what I have this day done." 

Now when the man of the Hebrews returned home, he 
drove out his wife Salome, because he had found the Egyptian 
concealed in his house, and he gave her a writing of divorce- 
ment and sent her away. Then the Hebrews talked among 
themselves at their work, and some said he had done well, and 
others that he had done ill. There were at their task two 
young men, brothers, Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, 
of the tribe of Reuben, and they strove together on this sub- 
ject, and Dathan in anger lifted his hand, and would have 
smitten Abiram. Then Moses came up and stayed him, and 
cried, "What wickedness art thou doing, striking thy com- 
rade ? It beseems you not to lay hands on each other." 

Boldly did Dathan answer: "Who made thee, beardless 
youth, a lord and ruler over us ? We know well that thou art 
not the son of the king's daughter, but of Jochebed. Wilt 
thou slay me as thou didst the Egyptian yesterday ? " 

" Alas ! " said Moses, " now I see that the evil words, and 
evil acts, and evil thoughts of this people will fight against 

1 Parascha of R. Solomon Jaschi, on Exod. ii. 12 ; also Targums of 
Palestine and Jerusalem, i. p. 447 ; Yaschar, pp. 1265, 1266. 



270 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxil. 

them, and frustrate the loving- kindness of the Lord towards 
them." 

Then Dathan and Abiram went before Pharaoh, and told 
him that Moses had slain an Egyptian task-master ; and 
Pharaoh's anger was kindled against Moses, and he cried, 
" Enough of evil hath been prophesied against thee, and I 
have not heeded it, and now thou liftest thy hand against my 
servants ! " 

For he had, for long, been slowly turning against Moses, 
when he saw that he walked not in the ways of the Egyptians, 
and that he loved the king's enemies, and hated the king's 
friends. Then he consulted his soothsayers and his coun- 
cillors, and they gave him advice that he should put Moses to 
death with the sword. Therefore the young man, Moses, was 
brought forth, and he ascended the scaffold, and the execu- 
tioner stood over him with his sword, the like of which was 
not in the whole world. And when the king gave the word, 
the headsman smote. But the Lord turned the neck of Moses 
into marble, and the sword bit not into it. 

Instantly, before the second blow was dealt, the angel Mi- 
chael took from the executioner his sword and his outward 
semblance, and gave to the headsman the semblance of Moses, 
and he smote at the executioner, and took his head from off 
his shoulders. But Moses fled away, and none observed him. 
And he went to the king of Ethopia. 1 

Now the king of Ethiopia, Kikannos (Candacus) by name, 
was warring against his enemies ; and when he left his capital 
city, Mero, at the head of a mighty army, he left Balaam ana 
his two sons regents during his absence. 

Whilst the king was engaged in war, Balaam and his sons 
conspired against the king, and they bewitched the people with 
their enchantments, and led them from their allegiance, and 
persuaded them to submit to Balaam as their king. And 
Balaam strengthened the city on all sides. Sheba, or Mero, 
was almost impregnable, as it was surrounded by the Nile and 
the Astopus. On two sides Balaam built walls, and on the 
third side, between the Nile and the city, he dug countless 
canals, into which he let the water run. And on the fourth 
side he assembled innumerable serpents. Thus he made the 
city wholly impregnable. 

When King Kikannos returned from the war, he saw that 

1 Pirke, R. Eliezer, c. 40 ; Rabboth, fol. 119 a ; Yaschar, p. 1266. 



xxxn J MOSES. 271 

bis capital was fortified, and he wondered ; but when he was 
refused admission, he knew that there was treason. 

One day he endeavored to surmount the walls, but was re- 
pulsed with great slaughter ; and the next day he threw thirty 
pontoons across the river, but when his soldiers reached the 
other side, they were engulfed in the canals, of which the 
water was impelled with foaming fury by great mill-wheels. On 
the third day he assaulted the town on the fourth side, but his 
men were bitten by the serpents and died. Then King Ki- 
kannos saw that the only hope of reducing the city was by 
famine ; so he invested it, that no provisions might be brought 
into it. 

Whilst he sat down before the capital, Moses took refuge 
in his camp, and was treated by him with great honor and 
distinction. 

As the siege protracted itself through nine years, Kikannos 
fell ill and died. 

Then the chief captains of his army assembled, and deter- 
mined to elect a king, who might carry on the siege with ener- 
gy, and reduce the city with speed, for they were weary of the 
long investment. So they elected Moses to be their king, and 
they threw off their garments and folded them and made there- 
of a throne, and set Moses thereon, and blew their trumpets, 
and cried " God save King Moses ! " l 

And they gave him the widow of Kikannos to wife, and 
costly gifts of gold and silver and precious stones were brought 
to him, but all these he laid aside in the treasury. This took 
place 157 years after Jacob and his sons came down into 
Egypt, when Moses was aged twenty-seven years. 

On the seventh day after his coronation came the captains 
and officers before him, and besought of him counsel, how the 
city might be taken. Then said Moses, " Nine years have ye 
invested it, and it is not yet in your power. Follow my advice, 
and in nine days it shall be yours." 

They said, " Speak, and we will obey." 

Then Moses gave this advice, " Make it known in the camp 
that all the soldiers go into the woods, and bring me storks* 
nests as many as they can find." 

So they obeyed, and young storks innumerable were brought 
to him. Then he said, "Keep them fasting till I give you 
word, and he who gives to a stork food, though it were but a 

1 This illustrates the passage 2 Kings ix. 13. 



272 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS, [xxxil 

crumb of bread, or a grain of corn, he shall be slain, and all 
that he hath shall become the king's property, and his house 
shall be made a dung-heap." 

So the storks were kept fasting. And on the third day the 
king said, " Let the birds go." 

Then the storks flew into the air, and they spied the serpents 
on the fourth side of the city, and they fell upon them, and 
the serpents fled, and they were killed and eaten by the storks 
or ever they reached their holes, and not a serpent remained. 
Then said Moses, " March into the city and take it." 

And the army entered the city, and not one man fell of the 
king's army, but they slew all that opposed them. 

Thus Moses had brought the Ethiopian army into posses- 
sion of the capital. The grateful people placed the crown 
upon his head, and the queen of Kikannos gave him her hand 
with readiness. But Balaam and his sons escaped, riding upon 
a cloud. 

Moses reigned in wisdom and righteousness for forty years, 
and the land prospered under his government, and all loved 
and honored him. Nevertheless, some thought that the son 
of their late king ought to ascend the throne of his ancestors ; 
— he was an infant when Moses was crow r ned, but now that he 
was a man, a party of the nobles desired to proclaim his right. 

They prevailed upon the queen to speak ; and when all the 
princes and great men of the kingdom were assembled, she 
declared the matter before all. " Men of Ethiopia," said she, 
" it is known to you that for forty 3 T ears my husband has reigned 
in Sheba. Well do you know that he has ruled in equity, and 
administered righteous judgment. But know also, that his 
God is not our God, and that his faith is not our faith. My 
son, Mena-Cham (Minakros) is of fitting age to succeed his 
father ; therefore it is my opinion that Moses should surrender 
to him the throne." 

An assembly of the people was called, and as this advice 
of the queen pleased them, they besought Moses to resign the 
crown to the rightful heir. He consented, without hesitation, 
and, laden with gifts and good wishes, he left the country and 
went into Midian. 1 

Moses was sixty-seven years old when he entered Midian. 
Reuel or Jethro, 2 who had been a councillor of Pharaoh, had, 

1 Midrash, fol. 52 ; Yaschar, pp. 1 265-1 274. 
* These were two of his seven names, 



xxxn.] MOSES. 273 

as has been already related, taken up his residence in Midian, 
where the people had raised him to be High Priest and Prince 
over the whole tribe. But Jethro after a while withdrew from 
the priesthood, for he believed in the one True God, and ab- 
horred the idols which the Midianites worshipped. And when 
the people found that Jethro despised their gods, and that he 
preached against their idolatry, they placed him under the ban, 
that none might give him meat cr drink, or serve him. 

This troubled Jethro greatly, for all his shepherds forsook 
him, as he was under the ban. Therefore it was, that his seven 
daughters were constrained to lead and water the flocks. 1 

Moses arrived near a well and sat down to rest. Then he 
saw the seven daughters of Jethro approach. 

The maidens had gone early to the well, for they feared lest 
the shepherds, taking advantage of their being placed under 
ban, should molest them, and refuse to give their sheep water. 
They let down their pitchers in turn, and with much trouble 
filled the trough. Then the shepherds came up and drove 
them away, and led their sheep to the trough the maidens had 
filled, and in rude jest they would have thrown the damsels 
into the water, but Moses stood up and delivered them, and 
rebuked the shepherds, and they were ashamed. 

Then Moses let down his pitcher, and the water leaped up 
and overflowed, and he filled the trough and gave the flocks of 
the seven maidens to drink, and then he watered also the 
flocks of the shepherds, lest there should be evil blood between 
them. 

Now when the maidens came home, they related to their 
father all that had taken place ; and he said, " Where is the 
man that hath shown kindness to you? — bring him to me." 

So Zipporah ran — she ran like a bird — and came to the 
well, and bade Moses enter under their roof and eat of their 
table. 

When Moses come to Raguel (Jethro), the old man asked 
him whence he came, and Moses told him all the truth. 

Then thought Jethro, " I am fallen under the displeasure 
•of Midian, and this man has been driven out of Egypt and out 

1 It may be noticed in this as in several other instances, such as those 
-of Rebekah and Rachel, the Rabbis have invented stories to explain the 
circumstance of the damsels watering the flock, which they supposed dero- 
gated from their dignity. This indicates the late date of these traditions, 
when the old pastoral simplicity was lost. 
12* 



274 0LD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxir, 

of Ethiopia ; he must be a dangerous man ; he will embroil 
me with the men of this land, and, if the king of Ethiopia or 
Pharaoh of Egypt hears that I have harbored him it will go ill 
with me." 

Therefore Raguel took Moses and bound him in chains, 
and threw him into a dungeon, where he was given only scanty 
food ; and soon Jethro, whose thoughts were turned to recon- 
ciliation with the Midianites, forgot him, and sent him no food. 
But Zipporah loved him, and was grateful to him for the kind- 
ness he had showed her, in saving her from the hands of 
the shepherds who would have dipped her in the water-trough, 
and every day she took him food and drink, and in return 
was instructed by the prisoner in the law of the Most High. 1 

Thus passed seven, or, as others say, ten years ; 2 and all 
the while the gentle and loving Zipporah ministered to his ne- 
cessities. 

The Midianites were reconciled again with Jethro, and re- 
stored him to his former position ; and his scruples about the 
worship of idols abated, when he found that opposition to the 
established religion interfered with his temporal interests. 

Then, when all was again prosperous, many great men and 
princes came to ask the hand of Zipporah his daughter, wha 
was beautiful as the morning star, and as the dove in the hole 
of the rock, and as the narcissus by the water's side. But 
Zipporah loved Moses alone ; and Jethro, unwilling to offend 
those who solicited her by refusing them, as he could give his 
daughter to one only, took his staff, whereon was written the 
name of God, the staff which was cut from the Tree of Life, 
and which had belonged to Joseph, but which he had taken 
with him from the palace of Pharaoh, and he planted it in his 
garden, and said, " He who can pluck up this staff, he shall 
take my daughter Zipporah." 

Then the strong chiefs of Edom and of Midian came and 
tried, but they could not move the staff. 

One day Zipporah went before her father, and reminded 
him of the man whom he had cast into a dungeon so many 
years before. Jethro was amazed, and he said, " I had forgotten 
him these seven years ; he must be dead ; he has had no food." 

But Zipporah said meekly, " With God all things are pos* 
sible." 

1 Pirke R. Eliezer, c. 40 ; Yaschar, p. 1274. 

2 The Targum of Palestine, " ten years ; " i. p. 448. 



xxxii.] MOSES. 275 

So Jethro went to the prison door and opened it, and Moses 
was alive. Then he brought him forth, and cut his hair, and 
pared his nails, and gave him a change of raiment, and set him 
in his garden, and placed meat before him. 

Now Moses, being once more in the fresh air, and under 
the blue sky, and with the light of heaven shining upon him, 
prayed and gave thanks to God ; and seeing the staff, where- 
upon was written the name of the Most High, he went to it 
and took it away, and it followed his hand. 

When Jethro returned into the garden, lo ! Moses had the 
staff of the Tree of Life in his hand ; then Jethro cried out, 
" This is a man called of God to be a prince and a great man 
among the Hebrews, and to be famous throughout the world." 
And he gave him Zipporah, his daughter, to be his wife. 1 

One day, as Moses was tending his flock in a barren place, 
he saw that one of the lambs had left the flock and was escap- 
ing. The good shepherd pursued it, but the lamb ran so much 
the faster, fled through valley and over hill, till it reached a 
mountain stream ; then it halted and drank. 

Moses now came up to it, and looked at it with troubled 
countenance, and said, — 

" My dear little friend ! Then it was thirst which made thee 
run so far and seem to fly from me ; and I knew it not ! Poor 
little creature, how tired thou must be ! How canst thou return 
so far to the flock ? " 

And when the lamb heard this, it suffered Moses to take it 
up and lay it upon his shoulders ; and, carrying the lamb, he 
returned to the flock. 

Now whilst Moses walked, burdened with the lamb, there 
fell a voice from heaven, " Thou, who hast shown so great love, 
so great patience towards the sheep of man's fold, thou art 
worthy to be called to pasture the sheep of the fold of God." * 

4. MOSES BEFORE PHARAOH. 

One day that Moses was keeping sheep, his father-in-law, 
Jethro, came to him and demanded back the staff that he had 

1 Beer, pp. 42-02 ; Pirke R. Eliezer. The Targum of Palestine says 
the rod was in the chamber of Jethro, not in the garden ; i. p. 448. Yas- 
•char, pp. 1277, 1278. 

- Rabbot., fol. 120 a. It is possible that our Blessed Lord's parable of 
the Good Shepherd may contain an allusion to this popular and beautiful 
tradition. 



276 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxir. 

given him. Then Moses cast the staff from him among a num- 
ber of other rods, but the staff ever returned to his hand as often 
as he cast it away. Then Jethro laid hold of the rod, but he 
could not move it. Therefore he was obliged to let Moses 
retain it. But he was estranged from him. 

Now Pharaoh was dead. And when the news reached 
Moses in Midian, he gat him up, and set his wife Zipporah and 
his son Gershom on an ass, and took the way of Egypt. 

And as they were in the way, they halted in a certain place ; 
and it was cloudy, and cold, and rainy. Then they encamped, 
and Zipporah tried to make a fire, but could not, for the wood 
was damp. 

Moses said, " I see a fire burning at the foot of the moun- 
tain. I will go to it, for there must be travellers there ; and I 
will fetch a brand away and will kindle a fire, and be warm." 

Then he took his rod in his hand and went. But when he 
came near the spot, he saw that the fire was not on the ground, 
but at the summit of a tree ; and the tree was a thorn. A 
thorn-tree was the first tree that grew, when God created the 
herb of the field and the trees of the forest. Moses was filled 
with fear, and he would have turned and fled, but a voice ' 
called to him out of the fire, "Moses, Moses /" And he said, 
" Here am I" And the voice said again, " Put off thy shoes 
from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy 
ground" This was the reason why he was bidden put off his 
shoes ; they were made of asses' hide, and Moses had trodden 
on the dung of his ass as he followed Zipporah and Gershom. 

Then God gave Moses his commission to go into Egypt, 
and release his captive people. But Moses feared, and said, 
" I am of slow lips and tongue ! " for he had burnt them, with 
his finger, when he took the live coal before Pharoah, as al- 
ready related. But God said to him, u I have given thee Aaron 
thy brother to speak for thee. And now, what is this that thou 
hast in thy hand ? " 

Moses answered, " This is my rod." 

" And to what purpose dost thou turn it ? " 

" I lean on it when I am walking, and when I come where 
there is no grass, I strike the trees therewith, and bring down 
the leaves to feed my sheep withal." And when he had nar- 
rated all the uses to which he put the staff, God said to him,, 

1 Gen. iii. 4. It was the angel Zagnugael who appeared and spoke to 
him from the bush. (Targum of Palestine, i. p. 449 ; Abulfeda, p. 31.) 



xxxn.] MOSES. 277- 

" With this staff shalt thou prevail against Pharaoh. Cast it 
upon the ground.' 1 And when he cast it down, it was trans- 
formed into a serpent or dragon, and Moses turned his back 
to run from it ; but God said, " Fear not ; take it up by the 
^reck;" and he caught it and it became a rod in his hands. 
Then said the Most Holy, " Put thy hand into thy bosom." 
And he did so, and drew it forth, and it was white, and shining; 
like the moon in the dark of night. 

Then Moses desired to go back to Zipporah his wife, but 
the angel Gabriel retained him, saying, "Thou hast higher 
duties to perform than to attend on thy wife. Lo ! I have al- 
ready reconducted her to her father's house. Go on upon thy 
way to Pharaoh, as the Lord hath commanded thee." 

The night on which Moses entered Egyptian territory, 
an angel appeared to Aaron in a dream, with a crystal glass 
full of good wine in his hand, and said, as he extended it to 
him : — 

" Aaron, drink of this wine which the Lord sends thee as a 
pledge of good news. Thy brother Moses has returned to 
Egypt, and God has chosen him to be His prophet, and thee to 
be his spokesman. Arise, and go forth to meet him ! " 

Aaron therefore arose from his bed and went out of the city 
to the banks of the Nile, but there was no boat there by which 
he could cross. Suddenly he perceived in the distance a light 
which approached ; and as it drew nearer he saw it was a horse- 
man. It was Gabriel mounted on a steed of fire, which shone 
like the brighest diamond, and whose neighing was hymns of 
praise, for the steed was one of the cherubim. 

Aaron at first supposed that he was pursued by one of 
Pharaoh's horsemen, and he would have cast himself into the 
Nile ; but Gabriel stayed him, declared who he was, mounted 
him on the fiery cherub, and they crossed the Nile on his back. 

There stood Moses, who, when he saw Aaron, exclaimed^ 
" Truth is come, Falsehood is passed." Now this was the sign 
that God had given to Moses, "Behold he cometh to meet 
thee." l And they rejoiced over each other. 

But another account is this : Moses entered Memphis with 
his sheep, during the night. Now Amram was dead, but his 
wife Jochebed was alive. When Moses reached the door,. 
Jochebed was awake. He knocked at the door; then she 
opened, but knew him not, and asked, "Who art thou ?" 

1 Exod. iv. 14. 



278 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxn. 

He answered, "lama man from a far country ; I pray thee 
*odge me, and give me to eat this night." 

She took him in, and brought him some meat, and said to 
Aaron, " Sit down and eat with the guest, to do him honor." 
Aaron, in eating conversed with Moses and recognized him. 

Then the mother and sister knew him also. And when the 
meal was over, Moses acquitted himself of his mission to 
Aaron, and Aaron answered, " I will obey the will of God." l 

Moses spent the night, and the whole of the following day, 
in relating to h:s mother the things that had befallen him. 

And on the second night, Moses and Aaron went forth to 
Pharoah's palace. Now the palace had four hundred doors, 
a hundred on each side, and each door was guarded by sixty 
thousand fighting men. The angel Gabriel came to them and 
led them into the palace, but not by the doors. 

When they appeared before Pharoah they said : " God hath 
sent us unto thee, to bid thee let the Hebrews go, that they 
may hold a feast in the wilderness." 

But Pharoah said, " Who is the Lord, that I should obey His 
voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let 
Israel go "°~ 

Tabari tells a different story. Moses and Aaron sought 
admittance during two years. Now Pharoah gave himself out 
to be a god. 

But Moses and Aaron, when they spake at the door with 
the porters, said, " He is no god." One day the jester of 
Pharoah heard his master read the history of his own life, 
and when he came to the passage which asserted he was a 
god, the jester exclaimed, " Now this is strange ! For two 
years there have been two strangers at thy gate denying thy 
divinity." 

When Pharoah heard this, he was in a fury, and he sent 
and had Moses and Aaron brought before him. 

But to return to the Rabbinic tale. Moses and Aaron were 
driven out from the presence of Pharoah ; and he said, " Who 
admitted these men ? " And some of the porters he slew, and 
some he scourged. 

Then two lionesses were placed before the palace to protect 
it, and the beasts suffered no man to enter unless Pharoah 
gave the word. 

1 Tabari, i. c. lxxiii. p. 24. 9 Midrash, fol. 54. 



xxxil.] MOSES. 279 

And the Lord spake to Moses and Aaron, saying, " Whert 
Pharoah talketh with you, saying, Give us a miracle, thou shall 
say to Aaron, Take thy rod and cast it down, and it shall 
become a basilisk serpent ; for all the inhabitants of the earth 
shall hear the voice of the shriek of Egypt when I destroy it, 
as all creatures heard the shriek of the serpent when I stripped 
it, and took from it its legs and made it lick the dust after the 
Fall." 2 

On the morrow, Moses and Aaron came again to the king's 
palace, and the lionesses would have devoured them. Then 
Moses raised his staff, and their chains brake, and they followed 
him, barking like dogs, into the house. 2 

When Moses and Aaron stood before the king, Aaron cast 
down the rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it 
became a serpent, which opened its jaws, and it laid one jaw 
beneath the throne, and its upper jaw was over the canopy 
above it ; then the servants fled from before it, and Pharaoh 
hid himself beneath his throne, and the fear it caused him 
gave him bowel-complaint for a week. Now before this Pha- 
raoh was only moved once a week, and this was the occasion 
of his being lifted up with pride, and giving himself out to be 
a god. 3 

Pharaoh cried out from under the throne, " O Moses, take 
hold of the serpent, and I will do what you desire." 4 

Moses took hold of the serpent, and it became a rod in his 
hands. Then Pharaoh crawled out from under his throne, and 
sat down upon it. And Moses put his hand into his bosom, 
and when he drew it forth, it shone like the moon. 

The king sent for his magicians, and the chief of these 
were Jannes and Jambres. He told them what Moses had 
done. 

They said, " We can turn a thousand rods into serpents." 

Then the king named a day when Moses and Aaron on one 
side should strive with Jannes and Jambres 5 and all the magi- 
cians on the other ; and he gave them a month to prepare for 
the contest. 

1 Targiim of Palestine, i. p. 460. 2 Yaschar, p. 1280. 

3 Tabari, p. 326. 

4 Some say that Pharaoh entreated Moses to spare him for the sake of 
Asia (Bithia), and that at the mention of his name Moses was softened 
(Weil, p. 159). 

6 In Arabic, Risam and Rijam ; and Shabun and Gabun, in Persian. 



2 8o OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [XXXTL 

On the day appointed — it was Pharaoh's birthday — all the 
inhabitants of Memphis were assembled in a great plain out- 
side the city, where lists were staked out, and the royal tent 
was spread for the king to view the contest. 

Moses and Aaron stood on one side and the magicians on 
the other. 

The latter said, "Shall we cast our rods, or will you ? " 

Moses answered, " Do you cast your rods first." 

Then the magicians threw down a hundred ass-loads of 
rods, tied the rods together with cords, and by their enchant- 
ment caused them to appear to the spectators like serpents, 
leaping and darting from one side of the arena to the other. 

And all the people were filled with fear, and the magicians 
said, " We have this day triumphed over Moses." 

Then the prophet of God cast his rod before Pharaoh, and 
it became a mighty serpent. It rolled its tail round the throne 
of the king, and it shot forth its head, and swallowed all the 
rods of the enchanters, so that there remained not one. 

After that all had disappeared, Moses took the serpent, 
and it became a rod in his hand again, but all the rods of the 
magicians had vanished. 

And when the magicians saw the miracle that Moses had 
wrought, they were converted, and worshipped the true God. 
But Pharaoh cut off their hands and feet, and crucified them ; 
and they died. Pharaoh's own daughter Maschita believed ; 
and the king in his rage did not spare her, but cast her into a 
fire, and she was burnt. Bithia was also denounced to him, 
and she was condemned to the flames, but the angel Gabriel 
delivered her. The Mussulmans say that he consoled her by 
telling her that she would become the wife of Mohammed in 
Paradise, after which he gave her to drink, and when she had 
tasted, she died without pain. 

Then Moses and Aaron met Pharaoh in the morning as he 
went by the side of the river, and Moses said to the king, 
■" The Lord of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee, saying, Let 
My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness." 

But Pharaoh would not hearken to him. Then Aaron 
stretched out his rod over the river, and it became blood. 

All the water that was in the vessels also became blood, 
even the spittle that was in the mouth of the Egyptians. The 
Rabbi Levi said that by this means the Israelites realized large 
fortunes ; for if an Israelite and an Egyptian went together to 



xxxh.] MOSES, 28 r 

the Nile to fetch water, the vessel of the Egyptian was found 
to contain blood, but that of the Israelite pure water ; but if 
an Israelite brought water to the house of an Egyptian and sold 
it, it remained water. 1 

But Pharaoh's heart was hard ; and seven days passed, 
after that the Lord had smitten the river. 

Then went Moses and Aaron to him. But the four hun- 
dred doors of the palace were guarded by bears, lions, and other 
savage beasts, so that none might pass, till they were satisfied 
with flesh. But Moses and Aaron came up, collected them 
together, drew a circle round them with the sacred staff, and 
the wild beasts licked the feet of the prophets and followed 
them into the presence of Pharaoh. 2 

Moses and Aaron repeated this message to Pharaoh, but 
he would not hearken to them, but drove them from his 
presence. Aaron smote the river ; but Moses on no occasion 
smote the Nile, for he respected the river which had saved his 
life as a babe. 3 Then the Lord brought frogs upon the land, 
and rilled all the houses ; they were in the beds, on the tables, 
in the cups. And the king sent for Moses and said : " Intreat 
the Lord, that He may take the frogs from me and from my peo- 
ple" So the Lord sent a great, rain, and it washed the frogs 
into the Red Sea. 

The next plague was lice. 4 

The fourth plague was wild beasts. 

The fifth was murrain. 

The sixth was boils and blains upon man and beast.* 

The seventh was hail and tempest. Now Job regarded the 
word of Moses, and he brought his cattle within doors, and 
they were saved ; but Balaam regarded it not, and all his cattle 
were destroyed. 6 

The eighth was locusts ; these the Egyptians fried, and 
laid by in store to serve them for food ; but when the west wind 
came to blow the locusts away, it blew away also those that had 
been pickled and laid by for future consumption. 7 

The ninth plague was darkness. 

1 Midrash, fol. 56. The Targums say that the enchanters turned the wa- 
ter of Goshen into blood, so that there was no water to the Israelites as to 
the Egyptians ; i, p. 462. 

8 Midrash, fol. 55. s Targum of Palestine, i. p. 463. 

4 Venomous insects (Kalma), gnats (Kinnim). See Wisdom xvi. 1, 3. 

• Targums, i. 464. 6 Targums, i. p. 467. T Ibid., i. p. 47 1. 



282 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxil 

The tenth was the death of the first-born. 

The Book of Jasher says that, the Egyptians having closed 
their doors and windows against the plagues of flies, and lo- 
custs, and lice, God sent the sea-monster Silinoth, a huge 
polypus with arms ten cubits long, and the beast climbed upon 
the roofs and broke them up, and let down its slimy arms, and 
unlatched all the doors and windows, and threw them open for 
the flies and locusts and lice to enter. 1 

But the Mohammedans gave a different order to the signs ; 
— (i) the rod changed into a serpent ; (2) the whitened hand ; 
{3) the famine ; (4) a deluge, the Nile rose over the land so 
that every man stood in water up to his neck; (5) locusts; 
(6) anommals — these are two-legged animals smaller than 
locusts; (7) blood ; (8) frogs ; (9) every green thing through- 
out the land, all fruit, all grain, eggs, and every thing in the 
houses were turned to stone. 2 

After the plague of the darkness, Pharaoh resolved on a 
general massacre of all the children of the Hebrews. The 
Mussulmans put the temporary petrifaction of all in the land 
in the place of the darkness. The Book of Exodus says that 
during the darkness " they saw not one another, neither rose any 
from his place;" but the Arabs say that they were turned to 
stone. Here might be seen a petrified man with a balance in 
his hand sitting in the bazaar ; there, another stone man count- 
ing out money ; and the porters at the palace were congealed 
to marble with their swords in their hands. 3 But others say 
that this was a separate plague, and that the darkness followed it. 

And now Gabriel took on him the form of a servant of the 
king, and he went before him and asked him what was his desire. 

" That vile liar Moses deserves death," said Pharaoh. 

" How shall I slay him ? " asked Gabriel. 

" Let him be cast into the water." 

" Give me a written order," said the angel. Pharaoh did so. 

Then Gabriel went to Moses and told him that the time was 
come when he was to leave Egypt with all the people, for the 
measure of the iniquity of Pharoah was filled up, and the Lord 
would destroy him with a signal overthrow. 

1 Yaschar, p. 1283. * Tabari, i. p. 338. • Weil, p. 165. 



xxxil ] MOSES. 28 J 

5. THE PASSAGE OF THE RED SEA. 

The Israelites had made their preparations to depart out of 
Egypt a month before the call came to escape. 

And when all was ready, Moses called together the elders of 
the people and said to them, " When Joseph died, he ordered 
his descendants to take up his bones, or ever they went out of 
the land, and to bear them to the cave of Machpelah, where 
lie the bones of his father Jacob. Where are the bones of 
Joseph ? " 

The elders answered him, " We do not know." 

Now there was an old Egyptian woman, named Miriam, and 
she believed in the Lord. She said to Moses, " I will show 
thee where is the tomb of Joseph, if thou wilt swear unto me 
that thou wilt take me with thee from Egypt, and that thou wilt 
ask the Most High to admit me into Paradise." 

Moses said, "I will do these things that thou askest." 

Then the woman said, "The tomb of Joseph is in the mid- 
dle of the river Nile, which flows through Memphis, at such 
a spot." 

Moses prayed to God, and the water fell till the bed of the 
river was left dry ; and then he and the women went into it, 
and came on the tomb of Joseph ; it was a sarcophagus of mar- 
ble without joints. 1 

Moses made preparations for departure, and said to the 
children of Israel, " God will destroy the Egyptians, and will 
give you their precious things." 

Then every one among the Hebrews who had an Egyp- 
tian neighbor said to him, if he was rich : "I am going to a 
feast in the country, I pray thee lend me jewels of gold and sil- 
ver to adorn my wife and children." 

The Egyptians lent their precious things, and the Israel- 
ites by this means found themselves possessed of borrowed 
jewels in great abundance. Then Moses said, " We will leave 
Egypt this night when the Egyptians are asleep. Let every 
housekeeper, softly desert his house, and bring with him his 
precious things, and meet outside the town. And let every 
one slay a lamb, and sprinkle with the blood the lintel and 
door-posts of the house, that the neighbors may know, when 
they see the blood, that the house is empty." 

When the middle of the night was passed, the Israelites 

1 Talmud, Sota, fol. 13. 



284 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxn. 

were assembled outside Memphis, at the place which Moses 
had appointed. Then the host was numbered, and it contain 
*ed six hundred thousand horsemen, not including those who 
were on foot, the women, the children, and the aged. All who 
were under" twenty were accounted infants, and all who were 
over sixty were accounted aged. 

After that, Moses placed Aaron in command of the first 
battalion, and he said to him, " March in the direction of the 
sea, for Gabriel has promised to meet me on its shores." At 
that time one branch of the Nile (the Pelusiae branch) flowed 
Into the Red Sea. which extended over where is now sandy 
desert to Migdol. 

Moses made the host follow Aaron, troop by troop, and 
tribe by tribe ; and he brought up the rear with a strong guard 
of picked men. 

It was dawning towards the first day of the week when Is- 
rael escaped out of Egypt. 

And when day broke, behold, they were gone away. Then 
the Egyptians came and told Pharaoh. He sent to search all 
the houses of the Israelites, but they were all empty, only their 
lamps were left burning. Pharaoh said, " We will pursue them." 
The Egyptians said, " They have borrowed our jewels ; we must 
follow after them, and recover what is our own." 

Now Moses had used craft touching these ornaments, in 
order that the Egyptians might be constrained to follow. For 
if the Israelites had gone without these, the Egyptians would 
have rejoiced at their departure. But because they had bor- 
rowed of the Egyptians, therefore the Egyptians went after 
them to recover their ornaments, and by this means rushed 
into destruction. 

And Israel marched all day through the wilderness pro 
tected by seven clouds of glory on their four sides : one above 
them, that neither hail nor rain might fall upon them, nor that 
they should be burned by the heat of the sun ; one beneath 
them, that they might not be hurt by thorns, serpents, or scor- 
pions ; and one went before them, to make the valleys even, 
and the mountains low, and to prepare them a place of habi- 
tation. 1 

Also, when the morning dawned, there was not a house in 
all Egypt in which there was not a first-born dead. And this 

1 Targum of Palestine, i. p. 1478. 



XXXII.] MOSES. 285 

•delayed the people from pursuing after the Israelites ; for they 
were engaged in bewailing their dead, and in digging graves 
for them. Thus they were not at leisure to follow after their 
former slaves, till they had escaped clean away. 

Also that night was every metal image in Egypt molten, 
and every idol of stone was broken, and every idol of clay was 
shattered, and every idol of wood was dissolved to dust. 1 

The same day Pharaoh sent into all the cities of Egypt and 
collected an army. When even was come the whole army was 
assembled about the king, and Pharaoh said to Dathan and 
Abiram, who had remained behind, 2 " The Israelites are few 
in number, they are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath 
shut them in" For all the way was full of marshes and canals 
of water and desert tracts. "They have acted wrongly by us, 
for they have carried away the ornaments and jewels of our 
people; and Moses, by magic, has slain all our first-born, so 
that there is not a house in which there is not one dead." 

On the morrow — it was the second day of the week — the 
army was reviewed, and Pharaoh numbered the host, and he 
had six hundred chosen chariots, and two million foot soldiers, 
and five million horsemen, and, in addition, there were one 
million seven hundred thousand horses, and on these horses 
were black men. 

When the sun rose on the third day, Pharaoh marched out 
of Memphis, and he pursued for half a day with forced marches. 
At noon, Pharaoh had come up with Moses, and the fore-front 
of Pharaoh's army thrust the rear-guard of the army of Moses. 
Then the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, and they said 
to Moses, " Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou ta- 
ken us away to die in the wilderness ? Wherefore hast thou dealt 
thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt 7 " 

They were divided into four opinions. One set said, " Let us 
fling ourselves into the sea." Another set said, " Let us return 
and surrender ourselves." The third set said, " Let us array bat- 
tle against the Egyptians." The fourth recommended," Let us 
shout against them, and frighten them away with our clamor." 3 

And Moses said unto the people, " Fear ye not, stand still, 
and see the salvation of the Lord. The Lord shall fight for you t 
and ye shall hold your peace" * 

1 Targums, i. p. 475. * Ibid., i. p. 485. 

8 Targum of Jerusalem, i. 488 ; Yaschar, p. 1287. 
4 Exod. xiv. 13, 14. 



286 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS, |xxxir. 

Then Moses raised his rod over the sea, and it divided, and 
let twelve channels of dry land appear traversing it, one for 
each of the twelve tribes. " When Moses had smitten," says 
the Koran, " the sea divided into twelve heaps, and left twelve 
ways through it, and each heap was as a gre'at mountain." l 

The Israelites hesitated to enter ; for they said, " O Moses ! 
the bottom of this sea is black mud, and when we place our 
feet on it we shall sink in and be swallowed up." 

But Moses prayed to God, and he sent a wind and the rays 
of the sun, and the wind and the sun dried the mud, and it be- 
came as sand. 

Then Gabriel and Michael appeared to Moses and said, 
" Pass on, and lead the people through. As for us, we have 
orders to tarry for Pharaoh." So Moses galloped forward into 
the sea, crying, " In the name of the merciful and glorious 
God ! " and all the people went in after him. But as they 
marched by twelve ways, and there were walls of water be- 
tween, they could not see each other, and they were in fear ; 
therefore Moses prayed to the Lord, and the Lord made the 
water-heaps rise and arch over them like bowers, and shelter 
them from the fire of the sun ; and He made the watery walls 
so clear they were as sheets of glass, and through them the col- 
umns of the advancing army were visible to each other. 

Moses traversed the sea in two hours, and he came forth 
with all the people on the other side. 

Then Pharoah and his host came to the water's side, but he 
feared to enter in. Now Pharaoh was mounted on an entire 
horse of great beauty. He reined in his steed and would not 
go forward, for he thought that this was part of the enchant- 
ment of Moses. 

But now Gabriel appeared mounted on a mare, and this 
was the cherub Ramka. 2 And when the horse of Pharaoh saw 
the mare of Gabriel, he plunged forward and followed the mare 
into the sea. Then, when the Egyptian army saw their king 
enter fearlessly into one of the channels, they also precipitated 
themselves into the ways through the deep. 

They advanced till they reached the middle of the Red Sea, 
and then Gabriel reined in and turned and unfurled before 
Pharaoh the order he had given for the destruction of Moses 

1 Koran, Sura xxvi. v. 63. , 

8 Weil, p. 168 ; see also Midrash, fol. 1 76. 



xxxn.] MCSES. 287 

in the water, and it was signed by Pharoah and sealed with his 
own signet. 

" See ! " exclaimed the angel, " What thou wouldest do to 
Moses, that shall be done to thee ; for thou art but a man, 
thou who fightest against God." 

Then the twelve heaps of water overwhelmed the host. But 
Pharaoh's horse was so fleet of foot that he outfled the return- 
ing waters, and he brought the king to the shore. He would 
have been saved, had not Gabriel smitten him on the face, and 
he fell back into the sea and perished with the rest. Then said 
Miriam, as he sank, " Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed 
gloriously ; the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea." ] 

Another curious incident is related by Tabari. When the 
water reached Pharaoh, and he knew that he must perish, he 
cried out, " I believe in the God of Israel ! " Gabriel, fearing 
lest Pharaoh should repeat these words, and that God in His 
mercy should accept his profession of faith, and pardon him, 
passed his wing over the bottom of the sea, raised the earth, 
and threw it into the mouth of Pharaoh so as to prevent him 
from swallowing again, and said, " Now thou believest, but 
before thou wast rebellious ; nevertheless, thou art numbered 
with the wicked." 2 

It was the ninth hour of the day when the children of Is- 
rael stood on dry land on the further side of the sea. 

On the morrow, the children of Israel assembled around 
Moses, and said to him, " We do not believe that Pharaoh is 
drowned, for he had peculiar power. He never suffered from 
headache, nor from fever, nor from any sickness, and was in- 
ternally moved but once a week." 

Then Moses clave the sea asunder with his rod, and they 
saw Pharaoh and all his host dead at the bottom of the sea. 
The bodies of the Egyptians were covered with armor and 
much gold and silver, and on the corpse of Pharaoh were 
chains and bracelets of gold. The children of Israel would 
have spoiled the dead, but Moses forbade them, for he said, 
" It is lawful to spoil the living, but it is robbery to strip the 
dead." Nevertheless many of the Hebrews went in and took 
from the Egyptians all that was valuable. Then God was 
wroth, because they had disobeyed Moses, and the sea was 
troubled, and for ten days it raged with fury, and even to this 

1 Exod. xv. 21. * Tabari, p. 350. 



288 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxil. 

day the water is not at rest where the Israelites committed 
this sin. And the name of that place at this day is Bab el 
Taquath." ! 



6. THE GIVING OF THE LAW. 

As long as Moses was with them, the Israelites did not 
venture to make idols, but when God summoned Moses into 
the Mount to talk with Him face to face, then they spake to 
Aaron that he should make a molten god to go before them. 

Aaron bade them break off their earrings and bracelets and 
give them to him, for he thought that they would be reluctant 
to part with their jewels. Nevertheless the people brought 
their ornaments to him in great abundance, and one named 
Micah cast them into a copper vessel ; and when the gold was 
melted, he threw in a handful of the sand which had been 
under the hoof of GabriePs horse, and there came forth a calf, 
which ran about like a living beast, and bellowed ; for Sam- 
mael (Satan) had entered into it. " Here is your god that 
shall go before you," cried Micah ; and all the people fell 
down and worshipped the golden calf. 2 

And when Moses came down from the Mount and drew 
near to the camp, and saw the calf, and the instruments of 
music in the hands of the wicked, who were dancing and 
bowing before it, and Satan among them dancing and leaping 
before the people, the wrath of Moses was suddenly kindled, 
and he cast the tables of the Commandments, which he had 
received from God on the Mount, out of his hand and brake 
them at the foot of the mountain ; but the holy writing that was 
on them flew, and was carried away into the heavens ; and he 
cried and said, " Woe upon the people who have heard from 
the mouth of the Holy One, ' Thou shalt not make to thyself 
any image, a figure, or any likeness ; ' and yet at the end of 
forty days make a useless molten calf ! " 

And he took the calf which they had made, and burned it 
with fire, and crushed it to powder, and cast it upon the face 
of the water of the stream, and made the sons of Israel drink ; 

1 Tabari, i. p. 355. 

* Both the Rabbis and the Mussulmans lay the blame, not on Aaron, 
but on another. The Rabbis say it was Micah who made the calf ; the 
Mussulmans call him Samiri. (Weil, p. 170.) 



xxxil] MOSES. 289 

and whoever had given thereto any trinket of gold, the sign 
of it came forth upon his nostrils. 1 

Of all the children of Israel only twelve thousand were 
found who had not worshipped the calf. 2 

The Mussulmans say that the Tables borne by Moses were 
from ten to twelve cubits in length, and were made, say some, 
of cedar wood, but others say of ruby, others of carbuncle ; 
but the general opinion is that they were of sapphire or emer- 
ald ; 3 and the letters were graven within them, not on the 
surface, so that the words could be read on either side. When 
the golden calf had been pounded to dust, Moses made the 
Israelites drink water in which was the dust, and those who had 
kissed the idol were marked with gilt lips. Thus the Levites 
were able to distinguish them ; and they slew of them twenty 
and three thousand. 4 

It is a common tradition among the Jews that the red hair 
which is by no means infrequently met with in the Hebrew race 
is derived from this period ; all those who had sinned and 
drank of the water lost their black hair and it became red, and 
they transmitted the color to their posterity. 

Another version of the story is as follows. Samiri (Micah), 
who had fashioned the golden calf, was of the tribe of Levi. 
When Moses came down from the Mount, he would have beat- 
en Aaron, but his brother said, " It is not I, it is Samiri who 
made the calf." Then Moses would have slain Samiri, but 
God forbade him, and ordered him instead to place him under 
ban. 

From that time till now, the man wanders, like a wild beast, 
from one end of the earth to the other ; every man avoids him, 
and cleanses the earth on which his feet have rested ; and when 
he comes near any man, he cries out, " Touch me not ! " 

But before Moses drave Samiri out of the camp, he ground 
the calf to powder, and made Samiri pollute it ; then he mixed 
it with the water, and gave it to the Israelites to drink. After 
Samiri had departed, Moses interceded with God for the people. 
But God answered, " I cannot pardon them, for their sin is yet 
in them, and it will only be purged out by the draught they 
have drunk." 

When Moses returned to the camp, he heard a piteous cry. 

1 Targum of Palestine i. p. 552. 2 Tabari, i. p. 362. 

8 Targum of Palestine, ii. p. 685. 4 Pirke R. Eliezer. c. 45. 

13 



-290 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. |xxxn. 

Many Israelites with yellow faces and livid bodies cast them- 
selves before him, and cried, " Help ! Moses, help ! the gold- 
en calf consumes our intestines ; we will repent and die, if the 
Lord will pardon us." 

Some, really contrite, were healed. Then a black cloud 
came down on the camp, and all those who were in it fought 
with one another and slew one another ; but upon the innocent 
the swords had no power. Seven thousand idolaters had been 
slain, when Moses, hearing the cry of the women and children, 
came and prayed ; and the cloud vanished, and the sword 
rested. 1 

According to some, the complaint caused by swallowing the 
dust of the calf was jaundice, a complaint which has never 
ceased from among men since that day. Thus the calf brought 
two novelties into the world, red hair and jaundice. 

And Moses went up again into the Mount, and took with 
him seventy of the elders. And he besought the Lord, " Suffer 
me, O Lord, to see Thee ! " 2 But the Lord answered him, 
" Thinkest thou that thou canst behold Me and live ? " And 
He said, " Look at this mountain ; I will display Myself to 
this mountain." 

Then the mountain saw God, and it dissolved into fine dust. 
So Moses knew that it was not for him to see God, and he re- 
pented that he had asked this thing. 3 After that he went with 
the seventy elders to Sinai, and a cloud, white and glistening, 
came down and rested on the head of Moses, and then de- 
scended and wholly enveloped him, so that the seventy saw him 
not ; and when he was in the cloud, he received again the 
Tables of the Commandments, and he came forth out of the 
cloud. But they murmured that they had not also received the 
revelation. Then the cloud enveloped them also, and they 
heard all the words that had been spoken to Moses ; and after 
that they said, " Now we believe, because we have heard with 
our own ears." 

Then the wrath of God blazed forth, and a thundering was 
heard so great and terrible that they fainted and died. But Mo- 
ses feared, and he prayed to God, and God restored the seventy 
men to life again, and they came down the Mount with him. 4 

And it was at this time that the face of Moses shone with 
the splendor which had come upon him from the brightness 

1 Weil, pp. 172, 173. 2 Koran, Sura vii. v. 139. 

3 Tabari, i. p. 364. 4 Ibid., i. c. lxxv. 






xxxn.] MOSES. 291 

of the glory of the Lord's Shekinah in the time of His speaking 
with him. And Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, 
and, behold, the glory of his face was dazzling, so that they 
were afraid to come near to him. And Moses called to them, 
and Aaron, and all the princes of the congregation ; and he 
taught them all that the Lord had spoken to him on Mount 
Sinai. And when Moses spoke with them, he had a veil upon 
his face ; and when he went up to speak with the Lord, he re- 
moved the veil from his countenance until he came forth. 1 

This was the reason why the face of Moses shone. He saw 
the light which God had created, whereby Adam was enabled to 
see from one end of the earth to the other. God showed this 
light now to Moses, and thereby he was able to see to Dan. 2 

When Moses went up into the Mount, a cloud received 
him, and bore him into heaven. On his way, he met the door- 
keeper Kemuel, chief of twelve thousands of angels of destruc- 
tion ; they were angels of fire ; and he would have prevented 
Moses from advancing : then Moses pronounced the Name in 
twelve letters, revealed to him by God from the Burning Bush, 
and the angel and his host recoiled before that word twelve 
thousand leagues. But some say that Moses smote the angel, 
and wounded him. 

A little further, Moses met another angel ; this was Hadar- 
niel, who had a terrible voice, and every word he uttered split 
into twelve thousand lightnings ; he reigned six hundred thou- 
sand leagues higher than Kemuel. Moses, in fear, wept at his 
voice, and would have fallen out of the cloud, had not God 
restrained him. Then the prophet pronounced the Name of 
seventy-two letters, and the angel fled. 

Next he came to the fiery angel Sandalfon, and he would 
have fallen out of the cloud, but God held him up. Then he 
reached the river of flame, called Rigjon, which flows from the 
beasts which are beneath the Throne, and is filled with their 
sweat ; across this God led him. 8 

It is asserted by the Rabbis that Moses learnt the whole 
law in the forty days that he was in the Mount, but as he de- 
scended from the immediate presence of God, he entered the 
region where stood the angels guarding the Mount, and when 
he saw the Angel of Fear, the Angel of Sweat, the Angel of 
Trembling, and the Angel of Cold Shuddering, he was so fill- 

1 Targum of Palestine, i. p. 561. * Jalkut Rubeni, fol. 117, col. 1. 
8 Jalkut Rubeni, fol. 107, cols. 2. & 



292 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxn. 

ed with consternation, that he forgot all that he had learnt. 
Then God sent the Angel Jephipha, who brought back all 
to his remembrance ; and, armed with the law, Moses passed 
the ranks of all the angels, and each gave him some secret or 
mystery ; one the art of mixing simples, one that of reading in 
the stars, another that of compounding antidotes, a fourth the 
secret of name, or the Kabalistic mystery. 1 

It is said by the Mussulmans, that when the law was de- 
clared to the children of Israel by Moses, they refused to re- 
ceive it ; then Mount Sinai rose into the air, and moved above 
them, and they fled from it ; but it followed them, and hung 
over their heads ready to crush them. And Moses said, " Ac- 
cept the law, or the mountain will fall on you and destroy you.' , 

Then they fell on their faces and placed the right side of 
the brow and right cheek against the ground and looked up 
with the left eye at the mountain that hung above them, and 
said, "We will accept the law." This is the manner in which 
the Jews to this day perform their worship, says Tabari ; they 
place the brow and right cheek and eye upon the ground, and 
turn the left cheek and eye to heaven, and in this position 
they pray. 3 

7. THE MANNA. (Exod. Xvi.) 

All the time that Israel wandered in the wilderness they 
were given manna, or angels' food. This food is ground by 
the angels in heaven, as Moses saw when he was there. For 
when Moses was in heaven, he knew not when it was night and 
when it was day, till he listened to the song of the angels ; and 
when they sang " Holy God," then he knew it was morning 
below on earth ; and when they sang " Blessed be thou," he 
knew it was evening below. Also he observed the angels grind- 
ing the manna and casting it down ; and then he knew it was 
night, and they were strewing it for the Israelites to gather in 
the morning. 3 It is in the third firmament, called Schechakim 
(clouds), that the mills are in which manna is ground. 4 Along 
with the manna fell pearls and diamonds, and on the mountain 
it was heaped so high that it could be seen from afar. 6 

1 Jalkut Rubeni, fol. 107, col. 3. 

8 Tabari, i. p. 371 ; also Midrash, fol. 30. 

3 Parascha R. Bechai, fol. 116. 

4 Talmud, Tract. Hajada, fol. 12, col. 2, 

5 Talmud, Tract. Joma, fol. 75, col. I. 



txxii.] MOSES. 2 93 

And the manna, this bread from heaven, contained in it- 
self all sweetness; and whatsoever any man desired to eat, the 
manna tasted to him as if it were that food. 1 Thus, if any 
one said, " I wish I had a fat bird," the manna tasted like a 
fat bird. But usually it had the taste of cakes made of oil, 
lioney, and fine flour, according to the words of the Lord, u My 
meat also which I gave thee, fine 'flour, and oil, and ho?iey where- 
with I fed thee" (Ezek. xvi. io). 2 The Targum of Palestine . 
thus describes the fall of the manna : — In the morning there 
was a fall of holy dew, prepared as a table, 3 round about the 
camp ; and the clouds ascended and caused manna to descend 
upon the dew ; and there was upon the face of the desert a 
minute substance in lines, minute as the hoar frost upon the 
ground. And the sons of Israel beheld, and wondered, and 
said to one another, " Man hu ? " (What is it ?) for they knew 
not what it was. And Moses said to them, " It is the bread 
which hath been laid up for you from the beginning in the 
heavens on high, and now the Lord will give it you to eat. 
This is the word which the Lord hath dictated : You are to 
gather of it ; every man according to the number of the per- 
sons of his tabernacle." 

And the children of Israel did so, and gathered manna more 
■or less. And Moses said to them, " Let no man reserve of it 
till the morning." 

But some of them, Dathan and Abiram, men of wickedness, 
did reserve of it till the morning ; but it produced worms, and 
putrefied. And they gathered from the time of the dawn until 
the fourth hour of the day ; when the sun had waxed hot upon 
it, it liquefied and made streams of water, which flowed away 
into the great sea \ and wild animals that were clean, and cat- 
tle, came to drink of it ; and the sons of Israel hunted, and ate 
them. 4 

Some of the Gentiles, the Edomites and Midianites, came 
up, and, seeing the chosen people eating, they also gathered of 
the manna and tasted, but it was to them as wormwood. 6 

1 This is sanctioned by Scripture : " Thou feddest Thine own people with 
angels food, and didst send them from heaven bread prepared without their 
labor, able to content every mans delight, and agreeing to every taste" 
-(Wisdom, xvi. 20.) 

9 Talmud, Tract. Joma, fol. 75, col. 1 ; Schemoth Rabba, fol. 115, col 4. 

3 To this tradition perhaps David refers, Ps. xxiii, 5, lxxviii. 19. 

4 Targum of Palestine, i. pp. 499, 500 

5 Jalkut Shimoni, fol. 73, col. 4. 



2 9 4 0LD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxil. 

8. THE SMITTEN ROCK. (Exod. XVU. 1-7.) 

And all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed 
from the desert of Sin and encamped in Rephidim, a place 
where their hands were idle in the commandments of the law, 
and the fountains were dry, and there was no water for the peo- 
ple to drink. 

And the wicked of the people contended with Moses, and 
said " Give us water that we may drink." And Moses said to 
them, " Why contend ye with me ? Why tempt ye the Lord ? " 

But the people were athirst for water, and the people mur- 
mured against Moses and said, " Why hast thou made us come 
up out of Egypt to kill us, and our children, and our cattle, with 
thirst ? " 

And Moses prayed before the Lord, saying, " What shall I 
do for this people ? Yet a little while, and they will stone me." 

And the Lord said to Moses, " Pass over before the people, 
and take the rod, with which thou didst smite the river, in 
thine hand, and go from the face of their murmuring. Behold, 
I will stand before thee there, on the spot where thou sawest 
the impression of the foot on Horeb ; and thou shalt smite the 
rock with thy rod, and therefrom shall come forth waters for 
drinking, and the people shall drink." 

And Moses did so before the Elders of Israel. And he 
called the name of that place Temptation and Strife ; because 
the people strove with him there, and tempted God. 1 

Tabari gives these particulars concerning the smitten rock. 
In the desert there was no water. Moses prayed to God, and 
He commanded him to strike a rock with his staff. 

Some say that this was an ordinary stone in the desert, oth- 
ers that it was a stone from Sinai which Moses carried about 
with him that he might stand on it whenever he prayed. Moses 
struck the rock, and twelve streams spouted from it. 

Then Moses said, " You have manna and quails in abun- 
dance, gather only sufficient for the day, and you shall have 
fresh on the morrow." But they would not obey his word ; 
therefore the Lord withdrew the birds, and the people were 
famished. Then Moses besought the Lord, and the quails were 
restored to them. And this is how the quails fell in the camp. 2 
A wind smote them as they flew over the camp, and broke 
their wings. 

1 Targum of Palestine, i. pp. 501, 502. ' Tabari, i. p. 393. 






xxxii.] MOSES. 295 

Then the people murmured again, and said to Moses, " The 
heat is intolerable, we cannot endure it." 

So he prayed, and God sent a cloud to overshadow Israel ; 
and it gave them cool shade all the day. 1 

After that they complained, " We want clothes." Then God 
wrought a marvel, and their clothes waxed not old and ragged, 
nor did their shoes wear out, nor did dirt and dust settle on 
their garments. 2 

It is also commonly related that the rock followed the 
Israelites, like the pillar of fire and the manna, all the time 
they went through the wilderness ; to this tradition S. Paul 
alludes when he says, " They drank of that spiritual rock that 
followed them, and that rock was Christ" 3 



9. MOSES VISITS EL KHOUDR. 

One day, say the Mussulmans, Moses boasted before Joshua 
of his wisdom. Then said God to him, " Go to the place 
where the sea of the Greeks joins the Persian Gulf, and there 
you will find one who surpasses you in wisdom." 

Moses therefore announced to the Hebrews, who continued 
their murmurs, that, in punishment for their stiffneckedness 
and rebellion, they were condemned by God to wander for 
forty years in the desert. 

Then having asked God how he should recognize the wise 
man of whom God had spoken to him, he was bidden take a 
fish in a basket \ "and," said God, "the fish will lead thee to 
my faithful servant." 

Moses went on his way with Joshua, having the fish in a 
basket. In the evening he arrived on the shore of the sea and 
fell asleep. 

When he awoke in the morning, Joshua forgot to take the 
fish, and Moses not regarding it, they had advanced far on 
their journey before they remembered that they had neglecte i 
the basket and fish. Then they returned and sought wher 1 
they had slept, but they found the basket empty. As the ; 
were greatly troubled at this loss, they saw the fish before 
them, standing upright like a man, in the sea ; and it led them, 

1 Koran, Sura ii. v. 54. 

J Tabari, i. p. 394 ; but also Deut. viii. 4, Nehemiah ix. 21. 

3 1 Cor. x. 4. 



296 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS, [xxxn. 

and they followed along the coast ; and they did not stay till 
their guide suddenly vanished. 

Supposing that they had reached their destination, they 
explored the neighborhood, and found a cave, at the entrance 
to which were inscribed these words, " In the Name of the all- 
powerful and all-merciful God." Joshua and Moses, entering 
this cavern, found a man seated there, fresh and blooming, but 
with white hair and a long white beard which descended to 
his feet. This was the prophet El Khoudr. 

Some say he was the same as Elias, some that he was Jer- 
emiah, some that he was Lot, and some that he was Jonah. 
The greatest uncertainty reigns as to who El Khoudr really is. 
All that is known of him is that he went with Alexander the 
Two-horned, to the West, and drank of the fountain of immor- 
tality, and thenceforth he lives an undying life, ever fresh, but 
also marked with the signs of a beautiful old age. 

El Khoudr derives his name from the circumstance of his 
having sat on a bare stone, and when he rose from it the stone 
was green and covered with grass. 1 

In later times he was put to death for the true faith with 
various horrible tortures, by an idolatrous king, but he revived 
after each execution. 

The explanation of the mystery of El Khoudr is this. He 
is the old Sun-god Thammuz of the Sabaeans, and when he 
was dethroned by Mohammed, he sank in popular tradition to 
the level of a prophet, and all the old myths of the Sun-god 
were related of the prophet. 

His wandering to the West is the sun setting there ; his 
drinking there of the well of immortality is the sun plunging 
into the sea. His clothing the dry rock with grass is signifi- 
cant of the power of the sun over vegetation. His torments 
are figures of the sun setting, in storm, in flames of crimson, or 
swallowed by the black thunder-cloud : but from all his perils 
he rises again in glory in the eastern sky. 2 

Moses said to El Khoudr, " Take me for thy disciple, per- 
mit me to accompany thee, and to admire the wisdom God 
hath given thee." 

1 Tabari, i. p. 373. 

See my " Curious Myths of the Middle Ages," article on S. George. 
I have no doubt whatever that El Khoudr, identified by the Jews with 
Elias, is the original of the Wandering Jew. I did not know this when I 
wrote on the " Wandering Jew " in my " Curious Myths," but I believe 
this to be the key to the whole story. 



xixii.] MOSES. 297 

" Thou canst not understand it," answered the venerable 
man. " Moreover, thy stay with me is short." 

" I will be patient and submissive," said Moses ; " for God's 
sake, reject me not." 

"Thou mayest follow me," said the sage. "But ask me 
no questions, and wait till I give thee, at my pleasure, the 
sense of that which thou comprehendest not." 

Moses accepted the condition, and El Khoudr led him to 
the sea, where was a ship at anchor. The prophet took a 
hatchet, and cut two timbers out of her side, so that she 
foundered. 

" What art thou doing ? " asked Moses ; " the people on 
board the ship will be drowned." 

" Did I not say to thee that thou wouldst not remain patient 
for long ? " said the sage. 

Pardon me," said Moses ; " I forgot what I had promised." 

El Khoudr continued his course. Soon they met a beauti- 
ful child who was playing with shells on the sea-shore. The 
prophet took a knife which hung at his girdle, and cut the 
throat of the child. 

" Wherefore hast thou killed the innocent ? " asked Moses, 
in horror. 

" Did I not say to thee," repeated El Khoudr, " that thy 
journey with me would be short ? " 

" Pardon me once more," said Moses ; " if I raise my voice 
again, drive me from thee." 

After having continued their journey for some way, they 
arrived at a large town, hungry and tired. But no one would 
take them in, or give them food, except for money. 

El Khoudr, seeing that the wall of a large house, from which 
he had been driven away, menaced ruin, set it up firmly, and 
then retired. Moses was astonished, and said, " Thou hast 
done the work of several masons for many days. Ask for a 
wage which will pay for our lodging." 

Then answered the old man, " We must separate. But be- 
fore we part, I will explain what I have done. The ship which 
I injured belongs to a poor family. If it had sailed, it would 
have fallen into the hands of pirates. The injury I did can be 
^easily repaired, and the delay will save the vessel for those 
worthy people who own her. The child I killed had a bad 
-disposition, and it would have corrupted its parents. In its 
place God will give them pious children. The house which I 
13* 



298 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS! [xxxil. 

repaired belongs to orphans, whose father was a man of sub- 
stance. It has been let to unworthy people. Under the wall 
is hidden a treasure. Had the tenants mended the wall, they 
would have found and kept the treasure. Now the wall will 
stand till its legitimate owners come into the house, when they 
will find the treasure. Thou seest I have not acted blindly 
and foolishly." 

Moses asked pardon of the prophet, and he returned to his 
people in the wilderness. 1 

The same story, with some variation in the incidents, is 
related in the Talmud. 

God, seeing Moses uneasy, called him to the summit of a 
mountain, and deigned to explain to him how He governed 
the world. He bade the prophet look upon the earth. He 
saw a fountain flowing at the foot of the mountain. A soldier 
went to it to drink. A young man came next to the fountain,, 
and finding a purse of gold, which the soldier had left there by 
accident, he kept it and went his way. 

The soldier, having lost his purse, returned to search for it, 
and demanded it of an old man whom he found seated by 
the spring. The old man protested that he had not found it, 
and called God to witness the truth of his assertion. But the 
soldier disbelieving him, drew his sword upon him and killed 
him. 

Moses was filled with horror. But God said to him : " Be 
not surprised at this event ; this old man had murdered the 
father of the soldier ; the soldier would have wasted the money 
in riotous living ; in the hands of the youth it will serve to 
nourish his aged parents, w r ho are dying of poverty. 2 

10. the mission of the spies. (Numb. xiii. xiv.) 

And the Lord spake with Moses, saying, " Send thou keen- 
sighted men men who may explore the land of Canaan, which I 
will give to the children of Israel ; one man for each tribe of their 
fathers shalt thou send from the presence of all their leaders." 

And Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran ; all of 
them acute men, who had been appointed heads over the sons 
of Israel. And Moses said to them, " Go up on this side by 

1 Weil, pp. 176-81 ; Tabari, i. c. lxxvi. ; Koran, Sura xviii. 

2 Voltaire has taken this legend as the basis of his story of " Zadig." 



xxxii.] MOSES. 299 

the south, and ascend the mountain, and survey the country, 
what it is, and the people who dwell in it ; whether they be 
strong or weak, few or many ; what the land is in which they 
dwell, whether good or bad ; what the cities they inhabit, 
whether they live in towns that are open or walled ; and the 
reputation of the land, whether its productions are rich or 
poor, and the trees of it be fruitful or not ; and do valiantly, 
and bring back some of the fruit of the land." 

And the day on which they went was the nineteenth of the 
month Sivan, about the days of the first grapes. They came 
to the stream of the grapes in Eshkol, and cut from thence 
a branch, with one cluster of grapes, and carried it on a rod 
between two men ; and also of the pomegranates, and of the 
figs; and the wine dropped from them like a stream. 1 

And when they returned, they related, " We have seen the 
land which we are to conquer with the sword, and it is good 
and fruitful. The strongest camel is scarcely able to carry one 
bunch of grapes ; one ear of corn yields enough to feed a whole 
family ; and one pomegranate shell could contain five armed 
men. But the inhabitants of the land and their cities are in 
keeping with the productions of the soil. We saw men, the 
smallest of whom was six hundred cubits high. They were 
astonished at us on account of our diminutive stature, and 
laughed at us. Their houses are also in proportion, walled up 
to heaven, so that an eagle could hardly soar above them." 2 

When the spies had given this report, the Israelites mur- 
mured, and said, " We are not able to go up to the people, for 
they are stronger than we." 

And the spies said, " The country is a land that killeth its 
inhabitants with diseases ; and all the people who are in it are 
giants, masters of evil ways. And we appeared as locusts be- 
fore them." 

And all the congregation lifted up their voices and wept ; 
and it was confirmed that that day, the ninth of the month 
Ab, should be one of weeping for ever to that people ; and it 
has ever after been one of a succession of calamities in the 
history of the Jews. 

" Would that we had died in the land of Egypt," said the 
people ; " would that we had died in the wilderness. Why 
has the Lord brought us into this land, to fall by the sword 

1 Targums, ii. pp. 380, 381. 8 Weil, p. 175. 



3 oo OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS, [xxxil. 

of the Canaanites, and our wives and little ones to become a 
prey ? " ! 

Then the Lord was wroth with the spies, and the earth 
opened her mouth and swallowed them up, saving only Joshua, 
and Caleb, who had not given an evil report of the land. 2 

The account of the Targum of Palestine is different. The 
Targum says that the men who had brought an evil report of 
the land died on the seventh day of the month Elul, with 
worms coming from their navels, and with worms devouring 
their tongues.' 

The Rabbis relate that though for the wickedness of men 
the fruitfulness of the Holy Land diminished, yet in places it 
remained as great as of old. " The Raf Chiji, son of Ada,, 
was the teacher of the children of the Resch Lakisch ; and once 
he was absent three days, and the children were without in- 
struction. When he returned, the Resch Lakisch asked him 
why he had been so long absent. He answered, ' My father 
sent me to his vine, which is bound to a tree, and I gathered 
from it, the first day, three hundred bunches of grapes, which 
gave as much juice as would fill two hundred and eighty 
and eight egg-shells (three gerabhs). Next day I cut three 
hundred bunches, of which two gave one gerabh. The third 
day I cut three hundred bunches, which yielded one gerabh of 
juice ; and I left more than half the bunches uncut' Then 
said the Resch Lakrsch to him, ' If thou hadst been more dil- 
igent in the education of my children, the vine would have 
yielded yet more.' 

" Rami, son of Ezechiel, once went to- the inhabitants of 
Berak, and saw goats feeding under the fig-trees, and the milk 
flowed from their udders, and the honey dropped from the figs, 
and the two mingled in one stream. Then he said, * This is 
the land promised to our forefathers, flowing with milk and 
honey.' 

" The Rabbi Jacob, son of Dosethai, said that from Lud to 
Ono is three miles, and in the morning twilight I started on 
my way, and I was over ankles in honey out of the figs. 

" The Resch Lakisch said that he had himself seen a stream 
of milk and honey in the neighborhood of Zippori, sixteen 
miles long and the same breadth. 

" The Rabbi Chelbo and Rabbi Avera and Rabbi Jose, son 
of Hannina, once came to a place where they were offered a 
1 Targums > ii. p. 382, % Weil, p 176. 3 Targums, ii. p. 38*. 



xxxii.] MOSES. 301 

honeycomb as large as the frying-pan of the village Heiro ; 
they ate a portion, they gave their asses a portion, and they 
distributed a portion to any one who would take it. 

" Rabbi Joshua, son of Levi, once came to Gabla, and saw 
grape-bunches in a vineyard, as big as calves, hanging between 
the vines, and he said, ' The calves are in the vineyard/ But 
the inhabitants told him they were grapes. Then said he, ' O 
land, land ! withdraw thy fruits. Do not offer to these heathen 
those fruits which have been taken from us on account of our 
sins.' 

" A year after, Rabbi Chija passed that way, and he saw 
the bunches like goats. So he said, ' The goats are in the vine- 
yard.' But the inhabitants said, 'They are grape-bunches; 
depart from us and do not unto us as did your fellow last 
year.' " * 

II. OF KORAH AND HIS COMPANY. (Numb. Xvi.) 

And the Lord said to Moses, " Speak to the sons of Israel, 
and bid them make fringes not of threads, nor of yarn, nor of 
fibre, but after a peculiar fashion shall they make them. They 
shall cut off the heads of the filaments, and suspend by five 
ligatures, four in the midst of three, upon the four corners of 
their garments, and they shall put upon the edge of their gar 
ments a border of blue (or embroidery of hyacinth)." 2 

But Korah, son of Ezhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, with 
Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Pe- 
leth, sons of Reuben, refused to wear the blue border. 

Moses had said, " The fringes are to be of white, with one 
line of blue ; " but Korah said, "I will make mine altogether 
of blue ; " and the two hundred and fifty men of the sons of 
Israel, who had been leaders of the congregation at the time 
when the journeys and encampments were appointed, sup- 
ported Korah. 3 

Korah was a goldsmith, and Moses greatly honored him, 
for he was his cousin, and the handsomest man of all Israel. 
When Moses returned from the mount, he bade Korah destroy 
the calf; but the fire would not consume it. Then Moses 
prayed and God showed him the philosopher's stone, which is 

1 Tract. Kethuvoth, fol. in, col. 2. 
8 Targums, ii. p. 391. 2 Targum of Palestine, ii. p. 390. 



3 o2 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxl. 

a plant that grows in great abundance by the shores of the 
Red Sea, but none knew of its virtues before. Now, this plant 
turns metals into gold, and also if a twig of it be cast into gold, 
it dissolves it away. Moses instructed Korah in the virtues of 
this herb. Then Korah dissolved the calf by means of it, but 
he also used it to convert base metals into gold, and thus he 
became very rich. 

Korah had great quantities of this herb, and he made vast 
stores of gold. He accumulated treasures. What he desired 
he bought, and he surrounded himself with servants clad in 
cloth of gold. He built brick houses with brass doors, and 
filled them to the roof with gold, and he made his servants walk 
before him with the keys of his treasure-houses hung round 
their necks. He had twenty men carrying these keys ; and 
still he increased in wealth, so he placed the keys on camels ; 
and when he still built more treasuries and turned more sub- 
stance into gold, he increased the number of keys to such an 
extent that he had sixty camel loads of them. Moses knew 
whence Korah derived his wealth, but the rest of the congrega- 
tion of Israel knew not. 

After that, Korah did that which was wrong, and he broke 
the commandment of Moses, and would have no blue border 
on his servants' tunics, but habited them in scarlet, and mount- 
ed them on red horses. Neither did he confine himself to the 
meats which Moses permitted as clean. 

Then God ordered Moses to ask Korah to give one piece 
of money for every thousand that he possessed. But Korah 
refused. This state of affairs continued ten years. When his 
destiny was accomplished, he was lifted up with pride, and he 
resolved to humble Moses before all the people. 

Now, there was among the children of Israel a woman of 
bad character. Korah gave her large bribes, and said to her, 
" I will assemble all the congregation, and bring Moses before 
them, and do thou bring a false accusation against him." 
The woman consented. 

Then Korah did as he had said ; and when all the assem- 
bly of Israel was gathered together, he spake against Moses all 
that the lying witness had invented. Then he brought forth 
the woman. But when she saw all the elders of the congrega- 
tion before her, she feared, and she said, " Korah hath suborned 
me with gold to speak false witness against Moses, to cause 
him to be put to death." 



xxxii.] MOSES. 303 

And when Korah was thus convicted, Moses cried, " Get 
yourselves up and separate from him." Then all the people 
fled away from him on either side. And the earth opened her 
lips and closed them on Koran's feet to the ankles. 

But Korah laughed, and said, " What magic is this ? " 

Moses cried, " Earth, seize him ! " 

Then the earth seized him to his knees. 

Korah said, " O Moses ! ask the earth to release me, and 
I will do all thou desirest of me." 

But Moses was very wroth, and he would not hearken, but 
cried, " Earth seize him ! " 

Then the earth seized him to the waist 

Korah pleaded for his life. He said, " I will do all thou 
desirest of me, only release me ! " 

But Moses cried again, " Earth, seize him ! " 

And the earth gulped him down as far as his breast, and 
his hands were under the earth. 

Once more he cried, " Moses ! spare me and release me, 
because of our relationship ! " 

Moses was filled with bitterness, and he bade the earth 
swallow him ; and he went down quick into the pit, and was 
seen no more. 

Then, when Moses was returning thanks to God, the Lord 
turned His face away from him and said, " Thy servant asked 
of thee forgiveness so many times, and thou didst not forgive 
him." 

Moses answered, " O Lord, I desired that he should ask 
pardon of Thee and not of me." 

The Lord said, " If he had cried but once to Me, I would 
have forgiven him." ' 

The earth swallowed Korah and seventy men, and they are 
retained in the earth along with all his treasures till the Res- 
urrection Day. 

Every Thursday, Korah, Dathan and Abiram go before the 
Messiah, and they ask, "When wilt Thou come and release us 
from our prison ? When will the end of these wonders be ?" 

But the Messiah answers them, " Go and ask the Patri- 
archs ; " but this they are ashamed to do. 8 

1 Tabari, i. c. lxxvii. ; Weil, pp. 182, 183 ; Abulfeda, p. 33. 

' Eisenmenger, ii. p. 305. Possibly the passage Zech. ix. 1 1, 12, majr 

contain an allusion to this tradition. 



304 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxn 

They sit in the third mansion of Sheol, not in any lowest 
one ; nor are they there tormented, because Korah promised 
to hear and obey Moses, as he was being engulfed. 1 

The Arabic name for Korah is Karoun, and under this name 
he has returned to Rabbinic legends, and the identity of 
Korah and Karoun has not been observed. 

The Rabbis relate of Karoun that he is an evil angel, and 
that Moses dug a deep pit for him in the land of Gad, and 
cast him into it. But whenever the Israelites sinned, Karoun 
crept out of his subterranean dwelling and plagued them. 2 

This is a curious instance of allegorizing upon a false in- 
terpretation of a name. The Karoun of the Mussulmans is 
clearly identical with Korah, but Karoun in Hebrew means 
Anger, and Karoun was supposed to be the Angel of the Anger 
of the Lord, and the story of his emerging from his pit to 
punish the sinful Israelites is simply a figurative mode of saying 
that the anger of the Lord came upon them. 



12. THE WARS OF THE ISRAELITES. 

The children of Israel had many foes to contend with. 
Amongst these were the Amorites. They hid in caves to form 
an ambuscade against the people of God, intending, when the 
Israelites had penetrated into a defile between two mountains, 
to sally forth upon them and to overthrow them. But they did 
not know that the ark went before Israel, smoothing the rough 
places and levelling the mountains. 3 Now, when the ark drew 
near the place where the ambush was, the mountains fell in 
upon the Amorites, and the Israelites passed on, and knew not 
that they had been delivered from a great danger. But there 
were two lepers named Eth and Hav, who followed the camp 
and they saw the blood bubbling out from under the mountain ; 
and thus the fate of the Amorites was made known. 4 

The Israelites found a redoubtable enemy in Og, king of 
Bashan, who was one of the giants who had been saved from 
the old world by clambering on the roof of the ark ; but his 
weight had so depressed the vessel, that Noah was obliged to 

1 Eisenmenger, ii. p. 305. 2 Pirke R. Eliezer, c. 45. 

3 Perhaps the passage Isai. xl. 4 may be an allusion to this trad.tion. 

4 Talmud, Tract. Beracoth, fol. 54, col. 2 ; Targum of Palestine, ii., 
pp. 411-13- 



txxil] MOSES. 305 

turn out the hippopotamus and rhinoceros to preserve the ark 
from foundering. 

Og determined to destroy Moses. Moses was ten cubits in 
height, and when Og came against him, he took a hatchet of 
ten cubits' length, and he made a jump into the air, and hit Og 
on the ankle. Og tore up a mountain, and put it on his head 
to throw it upon Moses ; but the ants ate out the inside of % the 
mountain, and it sank over Og's head to his neck, and he could 
not draw his head out, for his teeth grew into tusks and thrust 
through the mountain, and he was blinded and caught as in a 
trap. Thus Moses was able to slay him. 1 

Some further details on Og, furnished by the Rabbis, will 
assist the reader in estimating the powers of Moses. 

At one meal, Og ate a thousand oxen and as many wild 
roes, and his drink was a thousand firkins ; one drop of the 
sweat from his brow weighed thirty-six pounds. 2 Of his size 
the following authentic details are given. The Rabbi Johan- 
an said, " I was once a grave-digger, and I ran after a deer, 
and went in at one end of a shin-bone of a dead man, and I 
ran for three miles and could not catch the deer or reach the 
«nd of the bone. When I went back, I inquired, and was told 
that this was the shin-bone of Og, king of Bash an." 3 The sole 
of his foot was forty miles long. Once, when he was quarrel- 
ling with Abraham, one of his teeth fell out, and Abraham made 
a bed out of the tooth, and slept in it ; but some say he made 
a chair out of it. 4 

When the Israelites came to Edrei and fought against it, in 
the night Og came and sat down on the wall, and his feet 
reached the ground. Next morning Moses looked out and 
said, " I do not understand how the men of Edrei can have 
built a second wall so high during the night." 

Then it was revealed to him that what he had taken for a 
wall was Og. 5 Og had built sixty cities, and the smallest was 
sixty miles high. These cities were in Argob. 6 

The Moabites also resisted Israel, and they were encour- 
aged by Balaam the son of Beor. 

1 Talmud, Tract. Beracoth, fol. 54, col. 2 ; Targums, ii. p. 416 ; Yras- 
char, p. 1296. 

2 Talmud, Tract. Sopherim, fol. 42, col. 2. 

3 Ibid., Tract. Nida, fol. 24, col. 2. 

4 Jalkut Cadasch, fol. 16, col. 2. * Eisenmenger, i. p. 389. 
6 Talmud, Tract. Sopherim, fol. 14. col. 4. 



3 o6 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxn. 

Balak, king of Moab, sent to Balaam to curse Israel. Then 
Balaam rose in the morning and made ready his ass and went 
with the princes of Moab. The Mussulman account is that 
Balaam, having been told by God not to go, resolved to obey, 
but the princes of Moab bribed his wife, and she gave him no 
peace till he consented to go to Balak with his messengers. 1 
But the anger of the Lord was kindled, because he would go 
to curse them, and the angel of the Lord stood in the way to 
be an adversary to him. But he sat upon his ass, and his two 
sons, Jannes and Jambres, were with him. 

And the ass discerned the angel of the Lord standing in the 
way with a drawn sword in his hand, and the ass turned aside 
out of the road to go into the field ; and Balaam smote the ass. 
And the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path that was in 
the midst between the vineyards, in the place where Jacob and 
Laban raised the mound, the pillars on this side and the ob- 
servatory on that side, 2 that neither should pass the limit to 
do evil to the other. And as the ass discerned the angel of 
the Lord, and thrust herself against the hedge, and bruised 
Balaam's foot by the hedge, he smote her again. Ten things 
were created after the world had been founded at the coming 
in of the Sabbath between sunset and sunrise, — the manna, the 
well, the rod of Moses, the diamond, the rainbow, the cloud of 
glory, the mouth of the earth, the writing on the tables of the 
covenant, the demons, and the speaking ass. 

Then the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said 
to Balaam, " What have I done to thee, that thou hast smitten 
me twice ? " 

And Balaam said to the ass, " Because thou hast been false 
to me ; if there were now a sword in my hand, I would kill 
thee." 

And the ass said to Balaam, " Woe to thee, wanting in un- 
derstanding ! Behold thou hast not power with all thy skill 
to curse me, an unclean beast, which am to die in this world 
and not to enter the world to come ; how much less canst thou 
curse the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, on whose 
account the world was created." 3 

Balaam finding that he could not curse the people, and that 
they were under the protection of the Most High, saw that the 
only way to ruin them was by leading them into sin. There- 
fore he advised Balak, and the king appointed the daughter 

1 Tabari, i. p. 398. 2 Gen. xxxi. 51 3 Targums ii. pp. 419-21. 



xxxii.] MOSES. 



307 



of the Midianites for the tavern-booths at Beth Jeshimoth, by 
the snow mountain, where they sold sweetmeats cheaper than 
their price. And Israel trafficked with them for their sweet 
cakes ; and when the maidens brought out the image of Peor 
from their bundles, the Israelites did not notice it to take it 
away, and becoming accustomed to it they went on to sacrifice 
to it. 1 

And Moses saw one of the sons of Israel come by, hold- 
ing a Midianitess by the hand, and Moses rebuked him. 
Then said the man, " What is it that is wrong in this ? 
Didst not thou thyself take to wife a Midianitess, the daughter 
of Jethro?" 

When Moses heard this, he trembled and swooned away. 
But Phinehas cried, " Where are the lions of the tribe of Ju- 
dah ? " and he took a lance in his hand, and slew the man and 
the woman. 

Twelve miracles were wrought for Phinehas, but they need 
not be repeated here. 2 

Then all the Israelites went forth against the Midianites 
and defeated them ; and when they numbered the slain, Ba- 
laam and his sons were discovered among the dead. 

13. THE DEATH OF AARON. (Numb. XX. 22-29.) 

Moses was full of grief when the word of the Lord came to 
him that Aaron, his brother, was to die. That night he had 
no rest, and when it began to dawn towards morning, he rose 
and went to the tent of Aaron. 

Aaron was much surprised to see his brother come in so 
-early, and he said, " Wherefore art thou come ? " 

Moses answered, " All night long have I been troubled, and 
have had no sleep, for certain things in the Law came upon me, 
and they seemed to me to be heavy and unendurable ; I have 
come to thee that thou shouldst relieve my mind." So they 
opened the book together and read from the first word ; and 
at every sentence they said, "That is holy, and great, and 
righteous." 

Soon they came to the history of Adam ; and Moses stayed 
from reading when he arrived at the Fall, and he cried bitterly, 
*' O Adam, thou hast brought death into the world ! " 

1 Targums, ii. pp. 432-3. 2 Ibid., pp. 434~5- 



308 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxir. 

Aaron said, " Why art thou so troubled thereat, my broth- 
er ? Is not death the way to Eden ? " 

" It is however very painful. Think also that both thou 
and I must some day die. How many years thinkest thou we 
shall live?" 

Aaron. — " Perhaps twenty." 

Moses. — " Oh no ! not so many." 

Aaron. — " Then fifteen." 

Moses. — " No, my brother, not so many" 

Aaron. — " Then ten years." 

Moses. — " No, not so many." 

Aaron. — "Then surely it must be five." 

Moses. — " I say again, not so many." 

Then said Aaron, hesitating, " Is it then one ? " 

And Moses said, " Not so much." 

Full of anxiety and alarm, Aaron kept silence. Then said 
Moses gently, " O my beloved ! would it not be good to say of 
thee as it was said of Abraham, that he was gathered to his 
fathers in peace ? " Aaron was silent. 

Then said Moses, " If God were to say that thou shouldst 
die in a hundred years, what wouldst thou say ? " 

Aaron said, " The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and 
holy in all his works." 

Moses. — " And if God w r ere to say to thee that thou shouldst 
die this year, what wouldst thou answer ? " 

Aaron. — u The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy 
in all his works." 

Moses. — " And if He were to call thee to-day, what wouldst 
thou say ? " 

Aaron. — " The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy 
in all His works." 

"Then," said Moses, "arise and follow me." 

At that same hour went forth Moses, Aaron, and Eleazer, his 
son ; they ascended into Mount Hor, and the people looked on, 
nothing doubting, for they knew not what was to take place. 

Then said the Most High to His angels, " Behold the 
new Isaac; he follows his younger brother, who leads him 
to death." 

When they had reached the summit of the mountain, there 
opened before them a cavern. They went in and found a. 
death-bed prepared by the hands of the angels. Aaron laid 
himself down upon it and made ready for death. 



xxxn.] MOSES. 309* 

Then Moses cried out in grief, " Woe is me ! " we were two r 
when we comforted our sister in her death ; in this, thy last 
hour, I am with thee to solace thee ; when I die, who will 
comfort me?" 

Then a voice was heard from heaven, " Fear not ; God 
himself will be with thee." 

On one side stood Moses, on the other Eleazer, and they 
kissed the dying man on the brow, and took from off him 
his sacerdotal vestments to clothe Eleazer his son with them. 
They took off one portion of the sacred apparel, and they 
laid that on Eleazer ; and then they removed another portion, 
and laid that on Eleazer ; and as they stripped Aaron, a sil- 
very veil of clouds sank over him like a pall and covered him. 

Aaron seemed to be asleep. 

Then Moses said, " My brother, what dost thou feel ? " 

" I feel nothing but the cloud that envelopes me," answer- 
ed he. 

After a little pause, Moses said again, " My brother, what 
dost thou feel ? " 

He answered feebly, " The cloud surrounds me and be- 
reaves me of all joy." 

And the soul of Aaron was parted from his body. And 
as it went up Moses cried once more, "Alas, my brother t 
what dost thou feel ? " 

And the soul replied, " I feel such joy, that I would it had 
come to me sooner." 

Then cried Moses, "Oh thou blessed, peaceful death f 
Oh, may such a death be my lot ! " 

Moses and Eleazer came down alone from the mountain,. 
and the people wailed because Aaron was no more. But the 
coffin of Aaron rose, borne by angels, in the sight of the whole 
congregation, and was carried into heaven, whilst the angels 
sang : " The priest's lips have kept knowledge, have spoken 
truth ! " ■ 

The Mussulman story is not quite the same. 

One version is that both Moses and Aaron ascended Hor y 
knowing that one of them was to die, but uncertain which, and 
they found a cave, and a sarcophagus therein with the inscrip- 
tion on it, " I am for him whom I fit." 

Moses tried to lie down in it, but his feet hung out ; Aaror* 
next entered it, lay down, and it fitted him exactly. 

J Jalkut, fol. 240 ; Rabboth, fol. 275, col. I ; Midrash, fol. 285. 



3io OLD rESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxir. 

Then Gabriel led Moses and the sons of Aaron out of the 
cave, and when they were again admitted Aaron was dead. 1 

Another version is this : God announced to Moses that 
he would call Aaron to Himself. Then Moses took his 
brother from the camp, and they went into the desert, till they 
came to a tree. When Aaron saw the shadow, he said, " O 
my brother, whose tree is this ? " 

Moses said, "God alone knows." 

Then spake Aaron, " I am weary, and the shadow is cool ; 
suffer me to repose a little while under the tree." 

Moses said, "Lie down my brother; and may thy rest be 
sweet. " 

Aaron lay down, and Moses sat by him till he died. 

Then suddenly the tree, the shadow, and Aaron vanished ; 
and Moses returned alone to the Israelites. They were angry 
with him, that he had not brought back Aaron, and they took 
up stones against him. But Moses cried to the Lord, and the 
Lord showed them Aaron on a bed, and he was dead ; and the 
people looked, and wondered, and wept : then said a voice 
from heaven, "God hath taken him." The people bewailed 
him many days. 8 

14. THE DEATH OF MOSES. 

When the time came for Moses to die, the Lord called Ga- 
briel to Him, and said, " Go and bring the soul of My servant 
Moses to Paradise." 

The angel Gabriel answered in astonishment, " Lord, Lord, 
how can I venture to give death to that man, the like of whom 
all generations of men have not seen ? " 

Then the Most High called to Him Michael, and said, 
"Go and bring the soul of My servant Moses to Paradise." 

The angel Michael answered in fear, " Lord, Lord, I was 
his instructor in heavenly lore ! How can I bear death to my 
pupil?" 

Then the Most High called to Him Sammael, and said, " Go 
and bring the soul of My servant Moses to Paradise." 

The angel Sammael flushed red with joy. He clothed him- 
self in anger, and grasped his sword, and rushed down upon 
the holy one. But he found him writing the incommunicable 
name of God, and he saw his face shine with divine light 

• Weil, p. 185. 2 Tabari, i. c. lxxix.; Abulfeda, p. 35, 



xxxn.] MOSES. 31 1 

Then he stood irresolute, and his sword sank with the point 
to earth. 

" What seekest thou ? " asked Moses. 

" I am sent to give thee death," answered the trembling 
angel. "All mortals must submit to that." 

" But not I," said Moses, " at least from thee ; I, conse- 
crated from my mother's womb, the discloser of divine mys- 
teries, the mouthpiece of God, I will not surrender my soul 
into thy hand." 

Then Sammael flew away. 

But a voice fell from heaven, " Moses, Moses, thine hour is 
come ! " 

" My Lor 1," answered Moses, " give not my soul into the 
hands of the Angel of Death." 

Then the Bath-kol, the heavenly voice, fell again, " Be com- 
forted. I myself will take thy soul, and I myself will bury 
thee." ' 

Then Moses went home, and knocked at the door. His 
wife Zipporah opened ; and when she saw him pale and tremb- 
ling, she inquired the reason. 

Moses answered, " Give God the praise. My hour of death 
is come." 

" What ! must a man who has spoken with God die like or- 
dinary mortals ? " 

" He must. Even the angels Gabriel, Michael, and Isra- 
fiel must die ; God alone is eternal, and dies not!" 

Zipporah wept and swooned away. 

When she recovered her senses, Moses asked, " Where are 
my children ? " 

" They are put to bed, and are asleep." 

" Wake them up ; I must bid them farewell." 

Zipporah went to the children's bed and cried, " Arise, poor 
orphans ! arise and bid your father farewell ; for this is his last 
day in this world, and the first in the world beyond." 

The children awoke in terror, and cried, " Alas ! who will 
pity us when we are fatherless ? who will stand protector on 
our threshold ? " 

Moses was so moved that he wept. Then God said to him r 
" What mean these tears ? Fearest thou death, or dost thou 
part reluctantly with this world ? " 

Rabboth, fol. 302 b ; Devarim Rabba, fol. 246, col. 2. 



3 i2 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxil. 

" I fear not death, nor do I part reluctantly with this world ; 
but I lament these children, who have lost their grandfather 
Jethro and their uncle Aaron, and who now must lose their 
father." 

" In whom then did thy mother confide, when she cast thee 
in the bulrush ark into the water ? " 

" In Thee, O Lord." 

" Who gave thee power before Pharaoh ? who strengthened 
thee with thy staff to divide the sea ? " 

" Thou, O Lord." 

" Who led thee through the wilderness, and gave thee bread 
from heaven, and opened to thee the rock of flint ? " 

" Thou, O Lord." 

" Then canst thou not trust thy orphans to Me, who am a 
father to the fatherless ? But go, take thy staff, and extend it 
once more over the sea, and thou shalt have a sign to strength- 
en thy wavering faith." 

Moses obeyed. He took the rod of God in his hand, and 
lie went down to the sea-beach, and he lifted the rod over the 
water. Then the sea divided, and he saw in the midst a black 
rock. And he went forward into the sea till he reached the 
rock, and then a voice said to him, "Smite with thy staff! " 
And he smote, and the rock clave asunder, and he saw at its 
foundations a little cavity, and in the cavity was a worm with a 
green leaf in its mouth. The worm lifted up its voice and 
cried thrice,*" Praise be God, who doth not forget me, though 
I, a little worm, lie in loneliness here ! Praised be God, who 
hath nourished and cherished even me ! " 

When the worm was silent, God said to Moses : " Thou 
seest that I do not fail to consider and provide for a little worm 
in a rock of which men know not, far in the depths of the sea ; 
and shall I forget thy children, who know Me ? " 

Moses returned with shame to his home, comforted his wife 
and children, and went alone to the mountain where he was 
to die. 1 

And when he had gone up the mountain, he met three men 
who were digging a grave ; and he asked them, " For whom do 
you dig this grave ? " 

They answered, " For a man whom God will call to be with 
Him in Paradise." 

1 Weil, pp. 188, 189. 



xxxii.] MOSES. 313 

Moses asked permission to lend a hand to dig the grave of 
such a holy man. When it was completed, Moses asked, 
" Have you taken the measure of the deceased ? " 

" No ; we have quite forgotten to do so. But he was of thy 
size ; lie down in it, and God will reward thee, when we see if 
it be likely to suit." 

Moses did so. 1 

The three men were the three angels Michael, Gabriel, and 
Sagsagel The angel Michael, had begun the grave, the angel 
Gabriel had spread the white napkin for the head, the angel 
Sagsagel that for the feet. 

Then the angel Michael stood on one side of Moses, the angel 
Gabriel on the other side, the angel Sagsagel at the feet, and 
the Majesty of God appeared above his head. 

And the Lord said to Moses, " Close thine eyelids. 1 ' He 
obeyed. 

Then the Lord said, " Press thy hand upon thy heart." 
And he did so. 

Then God said, " Place thy feet in order." He did so. 

Then the Lord addressed the spirit of Moses, and said, 
" Holy soul, my daughter ! For a hundred and twenty years 
hast thou inhabited this undefiled body of dust. But now 
thine hour is come ; come forth and mount to Paradise ! " 

But the soul answered, trembling and with pain, " In this 
pure and undefiled body have I spent so many years, that I 
have learned to love it, and I have not the courage to desert 
it." 

" My daughter, come forth ! I will place thee in the highest 
heaven beneath the Cherubim and Seraphim who bear up My 
eternal throne." 

Yet the soul doubted and quaked. 

Then God bent over the face of Moses, and kissed him. 
And the soul leaped up in joy, and went with the kiss of God 
to Paradise. 

Then a sad cloud draped the heavens, and the wind wailed, 
" Who lives now on earth to fight against sin and error ? " 

And a voice answered, " Such a prophet never arose be- 
fore." 

And the Earth lamented, " I have lost the holy one ! " 

And Israel lamented, " We have lost the Shepherd! " 

1 Weil, p. 190 
14 



314 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [XXXII. 

And the angels sang, " He is come in peace to the arms 
ofGod!" 1 

But the Mussulmans narrate the last scene differently. 

They say that the Angel of Death stood over Moses, as he 
lay in the grave, and said, " Prophet of God, I must take thy 
soul." 

" How wilt thou take it ? " 

" From thy mouth." 

" Thou canst not, for my mouth hath spoken with God/' 

" Then from thine eyes." 

"Thou canst not, for my eyes have seen the uncreated 
Light of God." 

" Then from thy ears." 

" Thou canst not, for my ears have heard the Voice of 
^God." 

" Then from thy hands." 

" Thou canst not, for my hands have held the diamond 
tables, on which was engraven the Tora." 

Then God bade the Angel of Death obtain from Rhidwan, 
the porter of Paradise, an apple from the garden, and give it 
to Moses to smell. 

Moses took the apple out of the hand of the Angel of 
Death, and smelt at it ; and as he smelt thereat, the angel 
drew his soul forth at his nostrils. 

None know where is the grave of Moses, save Gabriel, 
Michael, Israfiel, and Azrael, for they buried him and defend 
his grave to the Judgment Day. 2 

By Nebo's lonely mountain, 

On this side Jordan's wave, 
In a vale in the land of Moab 

There lies a lonely grave. 
And no man knows that sepulchre, 

And no man saw it e'er, 
For the angels of God upturned the sod, 

And laid the dead man there. 

That was the grandest funeral 

That ever passed on earth ; 
But no man heard the trampling, 

Or saw the train go forth — 
Noiselessly as the daylight 

Comes back when night is done, 
And the crimson streak on Ocean's cheek 

Grows into the great sun ; 

1 Rabboth, fol. 302 b. 2 Well, pp. 190, 191. 



rsYTTT.] JOSHUA. 315: 

Noiselessly as the spring-time 

Her crown of verdure weaves, 
And all the trees on all the hills 

Open their thousand leaves ; 
So without sound of music, 

Or voice of them that wept, 
Silently down from the mountain's crown 

The great procession swept. 

And had he not high honor — 

The hill- side for a pall, 
To lie in state, while angels wait 

With stars for tapers tall ; 
And the dark rock-pines, like tossing plumes. 

Over his bier to wave, 
And God's own hand in that lonely land 

To lay him in the grave ? l 

Once when the Persian Empire was at the summit of its 
power, an attempt was made to discover the body of Moses. 
A countless host of Persian soldiers was sent to search Mount 
Nebo. When they had reached the top of the mountain, they 
saw the sepulchre of Moses distinctly at the bottom. They 
hastened to reach the valley, and then they clearly distin- 
guished the tomb of Moses at the summit. Thus, whenever 
they were at the top, they saw it at the foot ; and when they 
were at the foot, it appeared at the top ; so they were forced 
to abandon the prosecution of their search. 2 

The incident of the contention of Michael with Satan for 
the body of Moses mentioned by S. Jude is contained in the 
apocryphal " Assumption of Moses," now lost, but which has 
been quoted by Origen and other Fathers. 



XXXIIL 
JOSHUA. 

Hitherto Israel had required a lawgiver, and they had been 
given one in Moses ; now they needed a general, and they were 
provided with one in Joshua. 

After the death of Moses and his brother Aaron, the children 
of Israel remained seven years in the wilderness, till the forty 

Lyra Anglicana, London, 1864, "The burial of Moses." 
9 Talmud, Tract. Sota, fol. 14 a. 



3 l6 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS [xxxiil 

years were acomplished. Then God conferred on Joshua the 
function of prophet, and ordered him to lead the chosen people 
out of the desert and to attack the three cities of the giants. 

Joshua was of the tribe of Joseph. He was the son of Nun, 
who was the son of Ephraim, who was the son of Joseph \ and 
?his mother was Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron. 1 

Before Joshua led the people of the Lord to the conquest 
of the Holy Land, Joshua sent three deputations into Canaan ; 
of these the first proclaimed, "Let any one who will escape 
death, leave the country." 

Then came the second deputation, and declared, " Let such 
people as will make an alliance with us, do so, and we will re- 
ceive them." 

Then came the third deputation, and cried, " Let those who 
persist in desiring war prepare for it." 

The result of these deputations was that one nation desert- 
ed the country and settled in Africa, and that another nation 
made terms with Israel. But thirty-one princes made ready for 
war. 2 

Joshua marched with his army against Jericho, took the city, 
.and slew all the men therein ; they were giants, and it took a 
hundred men to cut off the head of each giant. 

After the capture of Jericho, Joshua went against Ai, which 
is beside Beth-aven, on the east side of Bethel. And as the 
people went up, the men of Ai came forth, and routed them, 
and they fled. 3 

Then Joshua rent his clothes, and fell on his face to the 
earth before the* ark of the Lord, until eventide, he and the el- 
ders of Israel, and put dust on their heads. 

And the Lord said to Joshua, " Get thee up. I am wroth 
with the people, for there is amongst them a sin which is not 
put away, and till that accursed thing is cast out, victory shall 
not attend their arms." 

Now Joshua had ordered all the plunder of Jericho to be 
burnt with fire ; but although it was heaped up, the fire would 
not consume it. Then he knew that the pile could not be com- 
plete, for the flames danced up, but would consume nothing, 
as though they waited for the entirety of their prey. 

So Joshua made inquisition ; and it was found that Achan 

1 Tabari, i. p. 396. * Talmud of Jerusalem ; Tract. Teiumoth. 

8 Josh. vii. 1-5. 






xxxm] JOSHUA. 317 

{Adjezan in Arabic) had concealed a portion of the booty, 
which he desired to appropriate to his own use. 

Then the booty taken by Achan was added to the heap, and 
instantly the flames roared up, and devoured the whole of the 
spoil. 1 

And when Ai was taken, Joshua said : " Enter into this 
town ; for God has taken it from the giants, and has given it to 
you to be your inheritance. But when you pass through the 
gates, prostrate yourselves, with your heads in the dust, and 
adore God, saying, Hittaton, hittaton, which is by interpreta- 
tion, Pardon our sins." 

Some of those who entered Ai obeyed the voice of Joshua, 
and God gave them a possession in that city, and their poster- 
ity retain it to this day. 

But there were some ungodly men who disobeyed the voice 
of Joshua, and when they passed through the gates, they did 
not prostrate themselves, but they raised their heads to heaven, 
and instead of saying " hittaton" as commanded, they said 
u hintaton" asking for corn. 

Then the wrath of God was kindled against these men, and 
fire fell from heaven, and consumed all that had said hintaton 
in place of hittaton? 

Near Ai there were mountains, in which reigned two kings, 
Kuma and Djion (Sihon). These Amorites were wealthy. 
When Joshua attacked these kings, they asked to make a 
league with the people of Israel ; and they were accepted, on 
condition that they believed in the religion of Moses. 

Another of these mountain kingdoms was governed by a 
king called Barak (Adoni-bezek). He also sought by submis- 
sion to escape ruin, and Joshua accepted him on the same 
terms as Kuma and Djion. 

To the west were five cities, whose inhabitants were also 
Amorites. The kings of these cities made war on Joshua. 
Joshua routed them, and these five kings took refuge in a cave. 
Joshua ordered the cave to be closed with a stone, whilst he 
pursued the routed army. Then God sent hail from heaven, 
and each hailstone struck down and killed a man. 3 

On that day Joshua cried to the Lord, for the sun hasted to 
go down, and it was a Friday, and he feared that he should not 
have utterly discomfited the host before the Sabbath came in. 

1 Tabari, i. p. 402. 

8 Koran, Sura ii. v. 55, 56. 8 Tabari, p. 404. 



3 i3 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxin. 

Then the Lord lengthened the day one hour, so as to enable 
him to complete his victory. 1 

After the battle, it was announced to him that Barak and the 
other kings who had made submission to him had taken 
advantage of the rising of the kings of the five cities to re- 
nounce their allegiance, and to return to the worship of false 
gods. Therefore Joshua prayed, " O Lord ! because they 
have become unfaithful, take from them their riches, and make 
them poor, that they may become bondsmen ; and that their 
king may fall into misery ! " 

Joshua was sick and unable to march against them. He 
was aged a hundred and twenty-eight years. He was a hundred 
years old when Moses died, and he governed Israel twenty- 
eight years. 2 

For the benefit of coin-collectors, the following information 
is inserted. " On the coins struck by Abraham are figured^ 
on the obverse, an old man and an ass ; on the reverse, a boy 
and a girl. On the coins of Joshua are, on one side a bull, on 
the other a unicorn. On those of David, on one side a staff 
and wallet, on the other a tower. On those of Mordecai, on 
the obverse, sackcloth and ashes; and on the reverse a crown." 8 

After Joshua, Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, and Othniel, 
the son of Kenaz, 4 Caleb's brother, governed Israel. They 
collected the people, and marched against Barak (•Adoni-bezek) & 
and his people who had apostatized, and attacked them, and 
slew great numbers of them. 

They took the king and cut off his thumbs. This Barak 
had, during his reign, treated seventy kings in like fashion, so 
that they were unable to pick up any thing off the ground. 
And when Barak was feasting, these kings were brought before 
him. Then he cast bread among them, but they were unable 
to pick it up, having no thumbs, and they were obliged to 
stoop to the ground, and take it in their mouths like dogs ; and 
this caused huge merriment to the king. 6 

1 Tabari, p. 401. * Ibid., p. 404. 8 Berescheth Rabba. 

4 The Mussulmans say Khasqil or EzechieL * Judges i. 4. 
• Tabari, i. p. 404. 






xxxv.] SAMUEL. 319 

XXXIV. 
THE JUDGES. 

If Joshua, the first of the Judges, has, to a great extent, 
escaped the hands of legend manufacturers, the same may 
be said of his successors, Phinehas, Othniel, Ehud, Deborah 
and Barak, Gibeon, Abimelech, Tola, Jair, Jephthah, Ibzan, 
Elon, and Abdon. Even Samson has not been surrounded 
by such a multitude of traditions as might have been expected. 

The Mussulmans have little to say of him, and the Jewish 
legends are not numerous. 

The Rabbi Samuel, son of Nahaman, said that Samson once 
took two mountains, one in each hand, and knocked them 
together, as a man will strike together two pebbles. The 
Rabbi Jehuda said that when the Spirit of the Lord rested on 
him he strode in one stride from Zorah to Eshtaol. The Rabbi 
Nahaman added that his hair stood up, and one hair tinkled 
against another, so that the sound could be heard, like that of 
bells, from Zorah to Eshtaol. 1 

Abulfaraj says that Phinehas, the son of Eleazer, the son 
of Aaron, after the death of Joshua, was commanded by an 
angel to put the manna, the rods, the tables of the covenant, 
and the five books of Moses in a brazen urn, seal it with lead, 
and conceal it in a cave, as the Israelites were too wicked to 
be entrusted with such a treasure. 3 



XXXV. 

SAMUEL. 

Gjalout (Goliath) was king of the Philistines. He was of 
the race of the ancient giants, the Adites and the Themudites, 
who were from fifty to a hundred cubits in height. 

The children of Israel were grievously oppressed by him, 
and they besought God to send them a prophet who would 
reinstruct them in the law of Moses, and in the true religion. 
For thirty years they besought God, but no prophet was given 
to them. In the meanwhile, the Philistines oppressed them 

1 Eisenmenger, i. p. 395. 2 Hist. Dynast, p. 24. 



3 20 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxv. 

more and more, and whenever the Israelites rose against them 
they defeated the Israelites with great slaughter. 

There died a man of the tribe of Levi, Rayyan (Elkanah), 
son of Elkama, who was descended from Aaron the brother of 
Moses. The elders of Israel hearing that he had died, leaving 
his wife pregnant, went to her and surrounded her with the 
greatest care and comforts. 

There was amongst them a wise man named Hil (Eli) who 
was high-priest ; to him they confided the care of the wid- 
ow. In time she bore a son, who was named Ischmawil 
(Samuel). 

Eli brought up the child Samuel in the temple, to the age 
of seven years, and he taught him the Pentateuch and the 
religion of Moses. 

Samuel regarded Eli as his father, because he had been 
brought up by' him, and he loved and reverenced him greatly. 

One night when he was asleep, Gabriel came into the room 
and made a noise, so that Samuel awoke. 

He saw no one, so he called to Eli, " Master ! didst thou 
summon me ? " 

Eli replied, "No, my son, I did not summon thee." 

Next night the same occurred ; so also the third night. 

Then Eli thought that God wished to give to Samuel the 
gift of prophecy ; therefore he said, " My son, if thou art 
called again in the night, reply, Here am I ; what wouldest 
Thou ? I am in Thy hands." 

Samuel did so. Then Gabriel appeared to him and cum- 
municated to him the message of God. 

Samuel told Eli that the Lord had given him the gift of 
prophecy, by the mouth of His messenger Gabriel. 

Then Eli was rejoiced, and he announced the glad tidings 
to all Israel. 

Eli had two sons whom he had instructed in the art of of- 
fering sacrifice according to the law of Moses, but he had 
taught them nothing else. Eli himself moreover neglected to 
sacrifice, and he allowed his sons to live after their lusts, unre- 
strained by his paternal and priestly rebuke. 

Therefore God spake to Samuel that He would punish Eli 
and his sons ; but Samuel feared to show it to the high priest. 

Then said Eli to him, "Has God given thee a message to 
me?" 

And Samuel answered, " God has said, Why hast thou ne- 



xxxv.] SAMUEL. 321 

glected to offer sacrifice, so that thy sons add thereto or detract 
therefrom ? And why hast thou not constrained them ? Be- 
cause of this sin, I shall deliver thee into the hands of an ene- 
my, who shall slay thy sons, and take the ark, and cause thee 
to perish also." : 

Then Gjalout came, and made war against the children of 
Israel, and there was a great battle, and Hophni and Phinehas, 
the sons of Eli, were slain, and the ark was taken ; and Eli fell 
backward from off his seat when he heard the news, and his 
neck brake, and he died. 

In the ark, that now fell into the hands of the Philistines, 
were preserved the tables of the Law, which God had given to 
Moses, and a basin in which the angels washed and purified 
the hearts of the prophets, and the mitre and breastplate and 
potificial robes of Aaron. 

The Israelites had been accustomed, in times of peril, to 
produce the ark, and it had delivered them from evil by virtue 
of the sacred relics it contained. As for the Shekinah which 
rested upon it, and from which the ark took its name of Tabut- 
Shekinah, the Mussulman authors assure us it had the form of 
a leopard, which, whenever the ark was carried against the ene- 
mies of God's people, rose on its legs, and uttered so potent a 
roar, that the foes of Israel fell to the ground. These authors, 
however, derive this fable from Rabbinic writers. 2 

The king of the Philistines, having obtained possession of 
the ark, placed it in a draught-house, purposing thereby to 
express his hatred of the Jews, and his contempt for that 
which they regarded as most sacred. 

But a terrible disease broke out among the Philistines, and 
the ark was sent from Gaza to another city. There the plague 
appeared immediately, and the Philistines were at length obliged 
to return the ark to the Israelites. 

In the mean time, the Israelites, in consternation at the 
loss of their ark, gathered about Samuel, and besought him to 
consecrate a king for them, who might go forth to battle before 
them, and recover for them the ark. 

Then Samuel said : " If I consecrate a king for you, will 
you not desert him, and refuse to obey him ? " 

But they all protested, " We will follow him wherever he 
leads, and we will obey all his commands." 3 

1 Tabari, i. c. lxxxvii. 2 D'Herbelot, Bibl. Orient., s. v. Aschmouil. 
3 Koran, Sura ii. v. 247, 248. 
14* 



322 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxy. 

Then Schareh, who was surnamed Thalout (Saul), on ac- 
count of the greatness of his stature, was chosen by Samuel to 
be their king. He was poor, and by trade a water-carrier, and 
his ancestors had all been water-carriers. 

Now the father of Saul had lost an ass, which had escaped 
into the desert. Saul went after it. 

Then Samuel came to meet him, and said to him : " Thou 
shalt reign as king over the people of Israel." 

Saul replied : " O prophet of God ! thou knowest that my 
tribe is the least among the tribes, and that I am the poorest 
among the members of my tribe. 

Samuel said : " Nevertheless, God has ordered that so it 
should be." 

Then he poured on his head the sacred oil which had been 
brought to Samuel out of heaven by Gabriel. 

But some say that this oil belonged to Joseph the son of 
Jacob, and it was preserved by the prophets. When this oil 
was poured on Saul's head and face, it made his skin brilliant 
and pure. 

Now the prophets all came out of the tribe of Levi, and 
the tribe of Benjamin was despised greatly by the Israelites. 
And when they heard that their king was from that tribe, 
and was a water-carrier, they were angry, and exclaimed, 
" Why should he reign over us ? We are as worthy to reign 
as he ! " l 

Samuel answered, " God gives power to whom He wills." 

The Israelites said, " Show us a sign." 

Samuel brought the sacred oil forth, and it boiled in the 
presence of Saul. 2 

But that did not suffice them. They then asked another 
sign; and Samuel said, "The ark shall return." 

And they lifted their eyes, and lo ! the ark was coming to 
them attached to the tails of two cows, and angels guided the 
cows. 3 

Then the children of Israel doubted no longer, but accepted 
Saul as their king. 

Then said Samuel to the people : " The God of your fath- 
ers has sent me unto you, to promise you victory over the 
Philistines, and deliverance from your bondage, if you will 
turn and leave your evil ways." 

1 Koran. Sura ii. v. 248. 2 D'Herbelot, Bibl. Orientale, t. i. p. 263. 
3 Tabari, i. p. 417. 



xxxv.] SAMUEL. 323 

"What shall we do ?" asked one of the elders, "that we 
may obtain the favor of God ? " 

Samuel answered, " Ye must pray to God alone, and offer 
no sacrifices to idols, nor eat the flesh of swine, or blood ; 
neither must you eat any thing which is not slaughtered in the 
name of the Most High. Ye must assist one another, honor 
your parents, entreat your wives with kindness, and support 
the widows, orphans, and poor. Ye shall believe in the proph- 
ets who have gone before me, especially in Abraham, for 
whom God turned a fiery pile into a pleasure garden ; in Ish- 
mael, whose neck God made as a flint stone, and for whom He 
opened a fountain in the stony desert; and in Moses, who 
with his staff opened twelve clay paths through the sea. 
Also ye shall believe in the prophets who shall follow after me, 
especially in Isa Ibn Mariam (Jesus, Son of Mary), the Spirit 
of God, and in Mohammed Ibn Abd-Allah." 

" And who is this Isa ? " asked one of the elders of Israel. 

" Isa," pursued Samuel, " is the prophet foretold in the 
Tora as the Word of God. His mother Mariam (Mary) shall 
cenceive him by the will of God, and by a breath of the angel 
Gabriel. In his mother's womb will he praise the almighty 
rower of God, and testify to the immaculate purity of his 
mother ; afterwards will he heal the sick and crippled, will 
quicken the dead, and will create living birds out of clay. 1 His 
godless cotemporaries will deal cruelly with him, and will cru- 
cify him ; but God will deceive their eyes and will let another 
die in his room, and he will be carried up into heaven like the 
prophet Idris (Enoch)." 

" And Mohammed," asked the same Israelite, " who is he ? 
His name sounds strange in our ears, never have we heard that 
name before." 

" Mohammed," answered Samuel, " does not belong to the 
race of Israel ; he will descend from the seed of Ishmael, and 
he will be the last and greatest of the prophets, before whom 
Moses and Christ will bend at the Resurrection Day. His 
name, which signifies the Much Praised, is prophetic of the 
laud and honor he will receive from all creatures on earth, and 
all the angels in heaven. The miracles he will work are num- 
berless, so that a man's life is not long enough to relate them 

1 This incident, from the apocryphal gospels of the childhood of Christ, 
shall be related in the Legendary Lives of New Testament Characters. 



324 0LD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxv. 

all. I shall be able to tell you only the events of a single 
night. 

" One fearful night of tempest, in which neither cock will 
crow nor dog bark, Mohammed shall be aroused from sleep 
by Gabriel, who shall appear to him in the shape he has when 
he appears before God, with seven hundred wings streaming 
with light ; between each a space such as a fleet-footed horse 
could scarce traverse in five hundred years. Gabriel will lead 
the prophet forth into the open air, where the wondrous horse 
Borak will be ready. That is the horse on which Abraham 
mounted when he made his pilgrimages from Syria to Mecca. 
This horse has two wings as an eagle, and feet like a drome- 
dary, and a body like a costly gem, shining like the sun, and a 
head like the fairest maiden. On this wondrous beast, whose 
brow bears the inscription, ' There is no God save God, and 
Mohammed is his prophet/ he will mount and ride, first to 
Medina, then to Sinai, thence to Bethlehem, and finally to Je- 
rusalem, to view the holy places, and at them to offer up his 
prayers. From Jerusalem he will ascend on a golden ladder, 
with rungs of rubies, emeralds, and jacinths, into the seventh 
heaven, where he will be instructed in all the mysteries of the 
creation, and the governance of the world. He will see the 
blessed in all their joy, in Paradise, and the sinners, in all their 
pain, in Hell. There will he see many pasturing wild cattle 
in unfruitful fields. These are they who in the time of life used 
the gifts of God without giving to those in need. Others will 
he see running about, and carrying in one hand fresh, and in 
the other putrid, meat, and as often as they attempt to taste 
the former, a fiery rod will smite them on the hand, till they 
devour the latter. This is the punishment of those who have 
violated marriage, and have preferred forbidden pleasures. 
Others have a swollen body, swelling daily more and more ; 
these are the fraudulent and avaricious. Others have their 
tongues and lips fastened together with iron clamps ; these are 
the slanderers and backbiters. Between Paradise and Hell 
sits Adam, laughing with joy when the gate of Heaven opens 
to receive one of his sons, and he hears the songs and shouts 
of the blessed ; weeping with self-reproach when the gate of 
Hell uncloses to take in one of his descendants, and he hears 
the sobbing of the damned. On this night will Mohammed 
also see, besides Gabriel, the other angels, who have each sev- 
enty thousand heads, and in each head seventy thousand faces, 



xxxyi.] SAUL. 325 

and in each face seventy thousand mouths, and in each mouth 
seventy thousand tongues, wherewith they cease not day or 
night to praise God in seventy thousand diverse languages. 
He will also see the angel of atonement, who is half fire, half 
ice ; also the angel who watches the treasure of fire with gloomy 
countenance and flashing eyes ; also the angel of death, with 
a great writing-table in his hand, whereon are inscribed many 
names, and from which at every instant he wipes off several 
hundreds \ finally, the angel who guards the waters, and weighs 
in great scales the water allotted to each spring and well, and 
brook and river ; and the angel who bears up the throne of 
God on his shoulders, and has a horn in his mouth, wherewith 
he will blow the blast that is to wake the dead. Moreover, 
the prophet will be conducted through many seas of light near 
to the throne itself, which is so great that the whole world will 
be beside it as a link in a coat of mail dropped in the desert. 
What will be further revealed to him," answered Samuel, " is 
unknown to me ; this only I know, that after having contem- 
plated the Majesty of God a bowshot off, he will descend the 
ladder precipitately, and, mounting Borak, will return to Mecca. 
Now the whole of this journey, his sojourn in Medina, Bethle- 
liem, Jerusalem, and the seventh heaven, will occupy so little 
time, that a water-pitcher which he upset as he left the house 
in Mecca will not have run all its waters out by his return." 

The assembled Israelites listened to Samuel, and when he 
was silent they cried with one voice, " We believe in God and in 
all the past prophets, and in all those who are yet for to come. 
Prav for us that we may escape the tyrrany of Gjalout 
(Goliath)." 

Thus Saul was chosen king of Israel, and Samuel was 
prophet to the people of God. 1 



XXXVI. 

SAUL. 

I. WAR WITH THE PHILISTINES. — GOLIATH SLAIN. 

Samuel ordered Thalout (Saul) to make war upon Gjalout 
(Goliath), and to assemble the fighting men of the tribes of 

1 Weil, pp. 193-S. 



326 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxvi. 

Israel. Saul summoned all the men and they numbered 
eighty thousand. Samuel gave Saul a suit of mail, and said 
to him, " He who can wear this coat with ease will decide the 
war, and Goliath will perish by his hand." 

Saul started with his army ; his way led through a desert, 
a day's journey across ; and it was very hot weather. On the 
other side of the desert was a broad river, between Jordan 
and Palestine, and the children of Israel had to pass this river 
to reach the army of Goliath. Saul thought that now he would 
prove his soldiers, for Samuel had bidden him take into battle 
only as many men as he could rely upon. 

The men were faint with heat and thirst as they reached the 
river of Palestine, and Saul said, " He who drinks of this 
water shall not come with me, but he who drinks not thereof 
shall follow after me." ! For he would not have them slake 
their thirst till they reached Jordan. 2 

But, according to another version of the story, the men 
were fainting in the wilderness, and murmured against SauL 
Then Samuel prayed, and God brought a water-spring out of 
the dry, stony ground, and made standing water in the desert, 
fresh as snow, sweet as honey, and white as milk. 3 

Samuel spake to the soldiers, and said, "Ye have sinned 
against your king and against God, by murmuring. Therefore 
refuse to drink of this water except in the hollow of your hand, 
and so expiate your fault.'' 4 

Samuel's words were disregarded. Only three hundred and 
thirteen men were found who had sufficient control over them- 
selves not to drink except slightly out of the hollow of their 
hand ; but these felt their thirst quenched, whereas those who 
had laid down and lapped were still parched with thirst. 

Saul and his army came before that of Goliath ; then said 
the majority of those who had lain down and lapped, "We 
have no strength to-day to stand against the Philistines." So 
Saul dismissed them to their homes, to the number of seventy- 
six thousand men • he had still with him four thousand men. 
Next day, when they saw the array of the Philistines, and the 
gigantic stature of their king, and their harness flashing in the 
sun, the hearts of more of the warriors failed, and they would 

1 Koran, Sura ii. v. 250. 2 Tabari, i. p. 418. 

3 Perhaps the Passage in Psalm cvii. 35 may refer to this miracle, un- 
recorded in Holy Scripture. 

4 Weil, pp. 200, 201. 



^xxvi.] SAUL, 327 

not follow Saul into battle, but said, "We have no strength to- 
day to stand against the Philistines ! " 

So Saul dismissed three thousand six hundred men, and 
there remained to him only three hundred and thirteen, the 
same number as those who on the day of Bedr remained with 
the prophet Mohammed. 

Then said Saul, " God is favorable to us ! " and he ad- 
vanced, and set his army in array against Goliath. And he 
prayed, saying, " Grant us, O Lord, perseverance." l 

However, God sent an order by Samuel saying, " Go not 
into battle this day, for the man who is to slay Goliath is not 
here ; he is Daud (David), son of Jesse, son of Obed, son of 
Boaz ; he is a little man, with grey eyes, and little hair, timid 
of heart, and slender of body. By this shalt thou know him : 
when thou placest the horn upon his head, the oil will over- 
flow and boil." 

Then Samuel went to Jesse, and said to him, " Amongst 
thy sons there is one who will slay Goliath. " 

Jesse said, " I have eleven sons, men stalwart and comely/ 

Samuel placed the horn on their heads, but the oil was not 
to be seen. 

Then God gave him a vision, and he said to him, "Look 
not at the beauty and strength of these men, but on the purity 
of their hearts and their fear of God." 

Samuel said to Jesse, " God says thou art a liar, and He 
says thou hast another son besides these" 

Jesse answered, " It is true ; but he is diminutive in stature, 
and I am ashamed to bring him into the company of men ; I 
make him tend sheep ; he is somewhere with the flock to-day." 

Samuel went to the place, and it was a valley into which a 
torrent fell. He saw David drawing the sheep out of the tor- 
rent by twos. Samuel said, " Certainly this is the man I seek." 
He placed the horn on his head, and the oil overflowed. 

Now Goliath, seeing the small number of the children of 
Israel, despised them, and scorned to fight them. He sent a 
messenger to Saul, saying. " Thou hast come out to fight 
against me with this handful, and I disdain to attack thee with 
my large army. If thou wilt, come forth that we may fight 
each other, or send any one out of the army, whom thou wilt, 
to fight with me." 

1 Koran, Sura ii. v. 251. 



328 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxvr. 

None in Saul's army would venture against the giant, and 
Saul was himself afraid. He produced the shirt of mail Sam- 
uel had given him, and he tried it upon each of his soldiers in 
turn; but it was too short for one, too long for another, too 
tight for a third, and too loose for a fourth. 

Now the father of David had come with his eleven sons 
into the host; but he had left David, because he was young 
and small of stature, to keep the sheep : and he had bidden 
him, from time to time, bring him supplies of food. David 
came with the provisions. He was dressed in a woollen shirt, 
and he bore in his hand the staff, and a pouch attached to his 
waist. 

As he passed over a pebbly strip of soil, a stone cried ta 
him, "Pick me up, and take me with thee." He stooped and 
picked up the stone, and placed it in his pouch. And when 
he had taken a few paces, another stone cried to him, " Pick 
me up, and take me with thee." He did so. And a third 
stone cried in like manner, and was in like manner taken by 
David. The first stone was that wherewith Abraham had 
driven away Satan, when he sought to dissuade the patriarch 
from offering up his son ; and the second stone was that on 
which the foot of Gabriel rested when he opened the foun- 
tain in the desert for Hagar and Ishmael ; and the third stone 
was that wherewith Jacob strove against the angel whom his 
brother Esau had sent against him. 1 But, according to anoth- 
er account, the first was the stone which Moses cast against 
the enemies of God, the second was that cast by Aaron, the 
third was destined to cause the death of Goliath. 2 When 
David came into the army, Saul had finished trying on the suit 
of mail upon the soldiers, and he said, " It fits none of them." 
Then he spied David, and he said, " Young man, let me place 
this shirt of mail on thee." Then he cast it over him, and it 
fitted him exactly. 

Saul said, "Wilt thou fight Goliath ? " 

David answered, " I will do so." 

Saul said, " With what horse and arms wilt thou go ? " 

David answered, " I will have no horse and.no arms, save 
these stones of the brook." 

David was feeble in body, he had grey eyes, was short, 
yellow-complexioned, thin-faced, and had red hair. 3 

Saul had little hope that David would overcome the giant 

1 Weil, p. 203. 2 Tabari, i. p. 421. 3 Ibid. 



txxyi.] SA UL. 329 

but he thought his example might shame and stimulate others, 
therefore he let him go. 

Now when Goliath came forth and defied the army of Israel, 
David went to meet him, wearing only his linen shirt, and belt, 
and pouch, and he had his shepherd's staff in his hand. 

Then cried Goliath, " Who art thou, that comest out to 
meet me ? " 

Then David replied, " I am come out to fight with thee." 

Goliath said, " Go back, petty fool, and play with children 
of thine own age. I despise thee; thou art unarmed." 

" And I despise thee, dog of a Philistine ! " cried the strip- 
ling ; " thou deservest to be dealt with as men deal with dogs, 
— pelting them with stones till they turn tail." 

Then Goliath was in a rage, and he lifted his spear against 
David ; but David hasted and loosed his belt, and laid in it 
one of the stones, and slung it ; and the wind caught the hel- 
met of Goliath, and lifted it in the air above his head, and the 
stone struck him on the brow, and sank in, and crushed all his 
skull, and strewed his brains all over the horse he rode ; then 
the giant fell out of his saddle, and died. 

Then again David placed the second stone in his sling, and 
he cast it, and it smote the right wing of the army of the Phil- 
istines ; then he cast the third stone, and it smote the left wing, 
and the host of the Philistines fled before him. 1 

2 saul's jealousy of david. 

Saul had promised his daughter to the man who should slay 
Goliath. When the Philistines had been routed, Saul told 
Samuel all that had taken place ; and the prophet exhorted 
the king to fulfil his promise, and to give to David his daughter 
in marriage. 

To this Saul agreed, and he gave David his ring, and made 
him manager of all his affairs, and he exalted him to be his 
son-in-law. 

Several years passed, and Saul became envious of David, 
whose praise was in everybody's mouth. 

He sent David into the wars, in hopes of his there meeting 
his death ; but it was all in vain. Then he spoke to his daugh- 
ter Michal, that she should introduce him into her husband's 

1 Tabari, i. p. 422 ; Weil, pp. 202-4 \ D'Herbelot, i. p. 362. 



330 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxvi 

chamber at night, that he might slay David with his own 
hand. 

Michal told David her fathers resolution, with many tears - r 
but David bade her be comforted, " For," said he, " the God 
of my fathers, who preserved Abraham and Moses from the 
hands of the executioner, will deliver me from thy father. But 
do as he bade thee, open the door at night, and fear not for 
me." 

Then David went into his smithy and wrought a suit of 
chain mail. He was the inventor of chain-armor. And he 
had received from God the power of moulding iron, like wax > 
in his fingers, without fire and without hammer. 

Now he fashioned for himself a whole suit of chain mail - T 
it was so thin that it was like gossamer, and it fitted to his 
body like his skin, and it was impenetrable to the thrust of 
every weapon. 

David put upon him his armor, and lay down in his bed. 
He slept, but was awakened at midnight by the knife of Saul 
stabbing at him as he lay. He sprang up, struck the weapon 
from the hands of his father-in-law, and thrust him forth out 
of the house. 1 

After this, Saul came to Michal and said, " He was not 
asleep, or I certainly would have slain him. Admit me again 
into his chamber at night." 

Michal went to David and told him all with many tears. 

Then said David, " I must escape from my house, for my 
life is not in security here. But do thou fill a leather bottle 
with wine, and lay it in my bed." 

Michal did so ; she took a large skin of wine and placed it 
in the bed, and drew the cover over it. But David fled away 
to Hebron. 

And in the night came Saul, and he felt the clothes, and he 
thought it was David in the bed, so he stabbed at him with his 
knife, and the wine ran out in the bed. Then Saul smelt it, 
and he said, " How much wine the fellow drank for his 
supper ! " 2 

But when he found that David had escaped him once more, 
he was wroth, and he gathered men together, and pursued after 

1 Weil, pp. 205-8. 

J Tabari, i. p. 423. The same story is told of the escape of S. Felix 
of Nola, in the Decian persecution. 






xxxvi.] SAUL. 331 

him \ in his anger, moreover, he sought to kill Michal, but she 
fled away and concealed herself. 

Saul pursued David in the mountains, but David knew all 
the caves and lurking-places, and Saul was unable to catch 
him. One night, David crept into the camp and thrust four 
arrows, inscribed with his name, into the ground, round the 
head of Saul. When Saul awoke, he saw these arrows, and 
he said, " David has been here ; he might have slain me had 
he willed it." 

During the day, Saul came upon his enemy in a narrow 
valley ; he was mounted, and he pursued David, who was on 
foot. David fled as fast as he could run, and managed to 
reach a cave a few moments before Saul could reach it. 
Then God sent a spider, which spun a web over the mouth of 
the cave ; and Saul saw it and passed on, saying, " Certainly 
David cannot have entered in there, or the web would be 
torn." l 

One night, Saul and his soldiers lodged in a cavern. And 
David was there, but they knew it not. In the night David 
carried off the sword and banner and seal-ring of the king, 
and he went forth out of the cave, for it had two openings. In 
the morning, when Saul prepared to continue his search, he saw 
him on a mountain opposite the mouth of the cave, and David 
had girded the royal sword to his side, and brandished the flag, 
and held forth his finger that all might note that he had on it 
the king's signet. 2 

Then Saul said, " His heart is better than mine ; " and he 
was reconciled with David, and he bade him return with him 
and live at peace. And he did so. 

3. THE DEATH OF SAUL. 

Now when Saul had gone forth against David, the wise men 
of Israel Lad gathered themselves together, and had remon- 
strated with him. But Saul was wroth at this interference, and 
lie slew them all, and there escaped none of them save one 
wise woman, whom his vizir spared. This vizir was a good 
man, and he took the woman into his own house, and she lived 
with his family. 

Some time after that, Saul had a dream, and in his dream 
he was reproached for having slain the wise men. And when 
1 Tabari, p.. 429. 2 Weil, p. 207. 



332 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxvir. 

he awoke he was full of remorse, and he went to his vizir and 
said, " It repents me that I have put to death all the wise men 
of my realm ; is there none remaining of whom I might ask 
counsel how I could expiate my crime ? " 

Then the vizir answered, " There remains but one, and that 
is a woman." 

Saul said, " Bring her hither before me." 

Now, when the wise woman was come before Saul, the king 
was troubled in mind, and he said, " Show me how I can make 
atonement for the great sin that I have committed." 

The woman answered, " Lead me to the tomb of a prophet ; 
I will pray, and may be God will suffer him to speak." 

They went to the tomb of Samuel, and the woman prayed. 

Then Samuel spake out of his sepulchre, and said, " Let his 
expiation be this : He shall go down, he and his sons, to the 
city of Giants, and they shall fall there." 

Saul had twelve sons. He called them to him and said tx> 
them all the words of Samuel. They then answered, " We are 
ready, let us go down. 

So they went to the city of Giants, and fought against it> 
and fell there, all in one day. 1 



XXXVII. 
DAVID. 

David says of himself, " Behold, I was shapen in wickedness ; 
and in sin did my mother conceive me"* The Rabbis explain 
_this passage by narrating the oircumstances of the conception 
of David, which I shall give in Latin. The mother of David 
they say was named Nitzeneth. " Dixerunt Rabbini nostri 
beatae memoriae, quod Isai (Jesse) habebat ancillam, eamque 
sollicitabat ad turpia ; quae, cum esset pudica et fidelis uxori 
Isai, eidem retulit ; quae seipsam aptavit (loco ancillae) et con- 
gressa est cum Isai, ex quo concubitu egressus est David. Et 
quia Isai intentio fuerat in ancillam, quamquam res aliter evene- 
rat, idcirco dixit David, — super eum sit pax : Ecce in iniquitate 
formatus sum, et peccato calefecit me mater mea." 3 

On this account, Jesse, having discovered the deception, 
lightly esteemed his son David, and sent him to keep sheep,. 

1 Tabari, i. p. 424. 2 Ps. li. 5. 3 Midrash, fol. 204, col. I, 



xxxvu.] DA VID. 333 

and made him as a servant to his brethren. And to this David 
refers when he says, " The stone which the builders rejected is 
become the head of the corner ;" l for, from being the despised 
brother, put to menial work, he was exalted before his brethren 
to be king over Israel. 

When David was born he would have died immediately, 
had not Adam, when he saw his posterity marshalled before 
him, taken compassion on David, and given him seventy years.' 2 

However, David was without a soul for the first fourteen 
years of his life, and was so regarded by God, as he was un- 
circumcised ; 3 but other Rabbinic writers say that he was born 
circumcised. 

The Jewish authors relate, as do the Mussulman historians, 
that David had red hair. In Jalkut (i Sam. xvi. 12) it is 
said, " Samuel sent, and made David come before him, and he 
had red hair ; " 4 and again in Bereschith Rabba, " When 
Samuel saw that David had red hair, he feared and said, He 
will shed blood as did Esau. But the ever-blessed God said, 
This man will shed it with unimpassioned eyes — this did not 
Esau. Esau slew out of his own caprice, but this man will 
execute those sentenced to death by the Sanhedrim." 

David was very small, but when Samuel poured the oil upon 
his head and anointed him, he grew rapidly, and was soon as 
tall as was Saul. And this the commentators conclude frorn 
the fact -of Saul having put his armor upon David, and it fitted 
him. Now Saul was a head and shoulders taller than any man 
in Israel ; therefore David must have started to equal height 
since his anointing. 5 

David was gifted with the evil eye, and was able to give the 
leprosy by turning a malignant glance upon any man. " When 
it is written, ' The Philistine cursed David by his gods] 6 David 
looked at him with the evil eye. For whoever was looked 
upon by him with the evil eye became leprous, as Joab knew 
to his cost, for after David had cast the evil glance on him, it 
is said, ' Let there not fail from the house of Joab one that hath 
an issue, or that is a leper,' 7 

" The same befell the Philistine when he cursed David. 
David then threw on him the malignant glance, and fixed it 

1 Ps. cxviii. 22. 2 See the story in the Legends of Adam. 

3 Zohar, in Bartolocci, i. fol. 85, col. 2. 

4 Jalkut, fol. 32. col. 2 (Parasch. 2, numb. 1 34). 

5 Ibid. (Parasch. 2, numb. 127). 6 I Sam. xvii. 43. 7 2 Sam. iii. 29. 



334 0LD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. fxxxvn. 

on his brow, that he might at once become leprous • and at the 
same moment the stone and the leprosy struck him, ,, x 

But David was himself afflicted for six months with this 
loathsome malady, and it is in reference to this that he says, 
" Thou s halt purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean ; Thou 
shall wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow" During this 
period, he was cast out and separated from the elders of the 
people, and the Divinity withdrew from him. 2 And this ex- 
plains the discrepancy apparent in the account of the number 
of years he reigned. It is said that he reigned over Israel 
forty years, 3 but he reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty 
and three in Jerusalem. In the Second Book of Samuel, how- 
ever, it is said, he reigned in Hebron seven years and six 
months ; 4 though the statement that he reigned only forty years 
in all, that is, thirty-three in Jerusalem, is repeated. Conse- 
quently these six months do not count, the reason being that 
David was at that time afflicted with the disorder, and cut off 
from society, and reputed as one dead. 5 

The Rabbis suppose that David sinned in cutting off the 
skirt of Saul's robe ; 6 and they say that he expiated this fault 
in his old age, by finding no warmth in his clothes, wherewith 
he wrapped himself. 7 For it is said, " King David was old a?id 
stricken in years ; and they covered him with clothes, but he got no 
heat" 8 

To David is attributed by the Rabbi Solomon the power of 
calling down the rain, the hail, and the tempest, in vengeance 
upon his enemies. " Our Rabbis," says he, " say that these 
things were formerly stored in heaven, but David came and 
made them to descend on the earth : for they are means of 
vengeance, and it is not fitting that they should be garnered in 
the Treasury of God." 9 But the rain and hail fell at the 
Deluge, in Egypt, and on the Amorites ; therefore the signifi- 
cation to be attributed to this opinion of the Rabbis probably 
is, that David was the first to be able to call them down by his 
prayer. 

David had a lute which he hung up above his head in the 
bed, and the openings of the lute were turned towards the 

1 Zohar, in Bartolocci, i. fol. 99, col. I. 

2 Talmud. Tract. Sanhedrim, fol. 107. 8 I Kings ii. II. 
4 2 Sam. v. 5. 5 Bartolocci, i. f. 100. 6 1 Sam. xxiv. 4. 
1 Bartolocci, i. f. 122. col. I. 8 I Kings i. I. 

9 Bartolocci, i. f. 122. col. 2. 



xxxvil] DA V2D. 335 

north, and when the cool night air whispered in the room 
towards dawn, it stirred the strings of the lute, which gave forth 
such sweet and resonant notes, that David was aroused from 
his sleep early, before daybreak, that he might occupy himself 
in the study of the Law. And it is to this that he refers when 
he cries in his Psalm, " Awake tote and harp : I myself will 
awake right early T y 

When Absalom was slain, David saw Scheol (Hell) opened, 
and his son tormented, for his rebellion, in the lowest depths. 
The sight was so distressing to the king, that he wrapped his 
mantle about his face and cried, " O my so?i Absalom ! my son, 
my son Absalom I would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, 
my son, my son!" Here it is to be noted that David called 
Absalom either by name or by his relationship seven times. 
Now in Hell there are seven mansions, and as each cry 
escaped the father's heart, Absalom was released from one of 
these divisions of the Pit ; and he thus effected his escape 
from Gehenna through the love of his father, which drew him 
up out of misery. 2 

David was very desirous to build a temple to the Lord, but 
God would not suffer him to do so, as he was a man of blood. 
This is the reason why he so desired to erect a temple. When 
he was young, and pastured his father's sheep, he came one 
day upon a rhinoceros (unicorn) asleep, and he did not know 
that it was a rhinoceros, but thought it was a mountain, so he 
drove his flock up its back, and fed them on the grass which 
grew thereon. But presently the rhinoceros awoke, and stood 
up, and then David's head touched the sky. He was filled 
with terror, and he vowed that if God would save his life and 
bring him safely to the ground again, he would build to the 
Lord a temple of the dimensions of the horn of the beast, an 
hundred cubits. The Talmudists are not agreed as to whether 
this was the height, or the breadth, of the horn ; however, the 
, vow was heard, and the Lord sent a lion against the rhinoceros ; 
and when the unicorn saw the lion, he lay down, and David 
descended his back, along with his sheep, as fast as possible ; 
but when he saw the lion, his spirit failed him again. How- 
ever he took the lion by the beard, and smote, and slew him. 
This adventure the Psalmist recalls when he says, " Save me 
from the lion's mouth ; Thou hast heard me also from among 

1 Ps. lvii. 9 ; Bartolocci, i. fol. 125, col. 2. 

2 Talmud, Tract. Sota, fol. 10 b. 



336 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxvil 

the horns of the unicorn; " * and to his vow he alludes in Psalm 
cxxxii., " Lord, remember David, and all his trouble; how he 
sware unto the Lord, and vowed a vow unto the Almighty God 
of Jacob." * 

One day David was hunting in the wilderness. Then came 
Satan, in the form of a stag, and David shot an arrow at him, 
but could not kill him. This astonished him, for on one occa 
sion, in strife with the Philistines, he had transfixed eight hun- 
dred men with one arrow. 3 Then he chased the deer, and it 
ran before him into the Philistine land. Now when Ishbi- 
benob, who was of the sons of the giant, knew this, he said, " Da- 
vid has slain my brother Goliath ; now he is in my power ! " 
and he came upon him and chained him, and cast him down, 
and laid a wine-press upon him, that he might crush him, and 
squeeze all the blood out of him. But God softened the earth 
beneath him, so that it yielded to his body, and he was unin- 
jured ; as he says in the Psalms, " Thou shall make room 
enough under me for to go" 4 And as David lay under the press, 
he saw a dove fly by, and he said, " O that T had wings as a 
dove, that L might flee away, and be at rest ; " 5 and he alludes 
to his being among the pots, and noting the wings of the dove 
as silver, in another Psalm. 6 

Now Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, heard the plaining of the 
dove, which had seen the trouble of the king, and came into 
Jerusalem in grief thereat. Then Abishai went to the chamber 
of David to search for him, but he was not there. Then he 
knew that the king must be in danger, and the only means of 
reaching him with speed was to mount the royal mule, which 
was fleet as the wind ; but this Abishai did not venture to do 
without advice, for he remembered the words of the Mischna, 
"Thou shalt not ride the king's horse, nor mount his throne, 
nor grasp his sceptre/' But as the danger was pressing, 
Abishai went to the school, and consulted the doctors of the 
Law, who said, " In an emergency all things are lawful." Then 
he mounted the mule of King David, and rode into the desert, 
and the earth flew under him, and he reached the house of Ishbi- 
benob. Now the mother of Ishbi-benob — her name was Or- 
pha — sat without the door spinning. And when she saw 
Abishai galloping up, she brake her thread and flung the spin- 
dle at him, with intent to strike him dead. But the spindle fell 

1 Ps. xxii. 21. 2 Midrash Tillim, fol. 21, col. 2. 

5 Eisenmenger, i. p. 409. 4 Ps. xviii. 36. 5 Ps. lv. 6. 6 Ps. lxviii. 13 



icxxvii.] DAVID. 337 

short of him. So Orpha cried to him, " Give me my spindle, 
boy." Abishai stooped and picked it up, and cast it at her 
with all his force, and it struck her on the brow, and broke her 
skull, and she fell back and died. 

Then, when Ishbi-benob saw what was done, he said, 
" These two men will be too much for me ! " so he drew Da- 
vid from under the wine-press, and flung him high into the air, 
and set his lance in the ground, that David might fall upon it, 
and be transfixed. But Abishai cried the Sacred Name, and 
David was arrested in his fall, and hung between heaven and 
earth, and gradually was let down, not on the spear, but at a 
distance. Then Abishai and David slew Ishbi-benob. 1 

When David's life was run out, the Angel of Death came 
to fetch his soul. But David spent all his time in reading 
the Law. The angel stood before him, and watched that his 
lips should cease moving, for he might not interrupt him in 
this sacred work. But David made no pause. Then the an- 
gel went into the garden which was behind the house, and 
shook violently one of the trees. David heard the noise, and 
turned his head, and saw that the branches of one of his trees 
were violently agitated, but no leaf stirred on the other trees ; 
so he closed the book of the Law, and went into his garden, 
and set a ladder against the tree and ascended into it, that he 
might see what was agitating the leaves. Then the angel with- 
drew the ladder, but David knew it not ; so he fell and broke 
his neck, and died. It was the Sabbath day. Then Solomon 
doubted what he should do, for the body of his father was ex- 
posed to the sun, and to the dogs ; and he did not venture to 
remove it, lest he should profane the Sabbath ; so he sent to 
the Rabbis, and said, " My father is dead, and exposed to the 
sun, and to be devoured by dogs ; what shall I do ? " 

They answered, " Cast the body of a beast before the dogs, 
and place bread or a boy upon thy father, and bury him." 2 

David had such a beautiful voice, that, when he sang the 
praises of God, the birds came from all quarters and surround- 
ed him, listening to his strains. The mountains even and the 
hills were moved at his notes. 3 He could sing with a voice as 
loud as the most deafening peal of thunder, or warble as 
sweetly as the tuneful nightingale. 

1 Talmud, Tract. Sanhedrim, fol. 95, col. I. 
9 Tract. Sabbath, fol. 30, col. 2. 
3 Tabari, i. p. 426 ; Weil, p. 208. 

15 



338 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxvii. 

He divided his time, say the Mussulmans, into three parts. 
One day he occupied himself in the affairs of his kingdom, the 
second day he devoted to the service of God, and the third 
day he gave up to the society of his wives. 

As he was going home from prayer, one day, he heard two of 
his servants discussing him and comparing him with Abraham. 

" Was not Abraham saved from a fiery furnace ? " asked one. 

" Did not David slay the giant Goliath ? " asked the other. 

"But what has David done that will compare with the 
obedience of Abraham, who was ready to offer his only son to 
God ? " asked the first, 

When David reached home, he fell down before God and 
prayed : " Lord ! Thou who didst give to Abraham a trial of 
his obedience in the pyre, grant that an opportunity may be 
afforded me of proving before all the people how great also is 
mine." 1 

But others relate this differently. They say that David 
besought the Lord to endue him with the spirit of prophecy. 
Then God answered, u When I give great gifts, he who receives 
them must suffer great trials. I proved Abraham by the fire, 
and by the sacrifice of one son, and separation from others ; 
Jacob by his children ; Joseph by the well and the prison : 
Moses by Pharaoh ; Job by the worms. I afflicted all these, 
but thee have I not afflicted." But David said, " O Lord, 
prove me and try me also, that I may obtain the same degree 
of celebrity as they." 2 

One day, as David sang psalms befoie God and the con- 
gregation, a beautiful bird appeared at the window, and it at 
tracted his whole attention, so that he could scarcely sing. 
David concluded his recitation of the psalms earlier than usu- 
al and went in pursuit of the bird, which led him from bush, 
to bush, and from tree to tree, till it suddenly disappeared 
near a secluded lake. Now this bird was Eblis, and he came 
to tempt David into evil. 

When the bird vanished, David, saw in the water a beauti- 
ful woman, bathing, and when she stood up, her hair covered 
her whole person. 

David hid behind the bushes, that he might not startle her, 
till she was dressed ; then he stood forth, and asked her her 
name. 

1 Weil, p. 207. 2 Tabari p. 428. 






xxxvii.] DA VID. 339 

" My name," said she, " is Bathsheba, 1 daughter of Joshua, 
and wife of Uriah, son of Han an, who is with the army." ' 2 

Then David departed, but his heart was inflamed with love, 
and he sent a message to Joab, the captain of his host, to set 
Uriah before the ark in every battle. Now those who went 
before the ark must conquer or fall. Three times Uriah came 
out of battle victorious, but the fourth time he was killed. 

Then David took Uriah's wife to his own house and made 
her his own wife. And she consented upon the condition that 
should she bear him a son, that son was to succeed him in the 
kingdom. Now David had, before he married her, ninety-nine 
wives. The day after his marriage, Michael and Gabriel ap- 
peared before him in human form, as he was in his court, and 
Gabriel said to him ; " This fellow here possesses ninety and 
nine sheep, but I have only one, and that I love, and cherish 
in my bosom. This man claims my little ewe lamb, and will 
take it from me, and, if I will not give it him, he says that he 
will slay me ; and take my lamb from me by force." 

Then David's anger was kindled against Michael, and he 
said, "Thou who hast so many sheep, wherefore lustest thou 
after the poor man's ewe lamb ? Thou hast an evil heart and 
an insatiable spirit." 

Then Michael exclaimed, "Thou hast given judgment 
against thyself: what thou rebukest in this man, thou hast al- 
lowed thyself to do ! " 3 

And David knew that God had sent His angels to rebuke 
him, and he fell upon his face to the ground. But, some say, 
he drew his sword and rushed upon Michael : then Gabriel 
held him back, and said, " Thou didst ask to be tried ; now 
thou hast fallen under the temptation." 4 

Then the angels vanished, and David fell to the ground, 
tore off his purple robe, cast aside his golden crown, and wept, 
for forty days and forty nights. And his tears flowed in such 

1 The Arabs call her Saga. 

2 The story in the Talmud is almost the same, with this difference : 
Bathsheba was washing herself behind a beehive, then the beautiful bird 
perched on the hive, and David shot an arrow at it and broke the hive, 
and exposed Bathsheba to view. In the Rabbinic tale, David had asked 
for the gift of prophecy, and God told him he must be tried. This he 
agreed to, and the temptation to adultery was that sent him. (Talmud, 
Tract, Sanhedrim, fol. 107, col. 2 ; Jalkut, fol. 22, col. 2). 

3 Koran, Sura xxxviii. 4 Weil, pp. 212, 213. 



OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxvu. 

abundance, that every now and then be plunged a cup into 
them and drank it off. 

At the expiration of forty days Gabriel came to him, and 
said, " The Lord salutes thee ! " But David felt this was an 
additional reproach, and he wept still more. It is said that 
during the ensuing forty days and nights David shed more tears 
than Adam and all his descendants had, and will, shed from. 
the day of the Fall to the day of the Resurrection. 

Then God sent Gabriel to him again, and Gabriel said, 
" The Lord salutes thee ! " But David lifted his tearful face 
and said, " O Gabriel, what will Uriah say to me on the day 
of the general Resurrection ? " 

Gabriel answered, " The Lord will give him so great an 
inheritance in Paradise, that he will not have the heart to re- 
proach thee." 

Then David knew that he was pardoned, and he rejoiced 
greatly. But he never forgot his sins. He wrote them on the 
palm of his hand, that he might have them always before him ; 
therefore he says, " My shame is ever before mine eyes." 

Nevertheless David's heart was lifted up with pride, when 
he considered that he was a king, a prophet, and a great gen- 
eral. And one day he said to Nathan, " I think I am perfect,, 
I have every thing." 

" Not so," answered Nathan, " thou exercisest no handi- 
craft." 

Then David was ashamed, and he asked God to teach him 
a craft ; and God made him skilful in fabricating coats of mail 
of rings twined together ; his trade therefore was that of an ar- 
morer, and his disgrace was wiped away. 

After his judgment between the two angels, David had no 
confidence in giving sentence in cases pleaded before him ; 
therefore God sent him, by the hand of Gabriel, a reed of iron 
and a little bell, and the angel said to him, "God is pleased 
with thy humility, and He has sent thee this reed and this bell to 
assist thee in giving judgment. Place this reed in thy judg- 
ment-hall, and hang up the bell in the middle, and place the 
accuser on one side, and the accused on the other, and give 
sentence in favor of him who makes the bell to tinkle when he 
touches the reed." 

David was highly pleased with his gift, and he gave such 
righteous judgment, that men feared, throughout the land, to 
do wrong to one another. 



sxxrii.l DA VID. 



34* 



One day, two mea came before David, and one said, " I 
left a goodly pearl in the charge of this man, and when I asked 
for it again, he denied it me." 

But the other said, " I have returned it to him." 

Then David bade each lay his hand on the reed, but the 
bell gave the same indication for both. Then David thought, 
" They both speak the truth, and yet that cannot be ; the gift 
of God must err." 

Then he bade the men try again, and the result was the 
same. However, he observed that the defendant, when he went 
up to the reed to lay his hand upon it, gave his walking staff to 
the plaintiff to hold, and this he did each time, so that David's 
suspicion was awakened, and he took the staff, and examined 
it, and found that it was hollow, and the stolen pearl was con- 
cealed in the handle. Thus the bell had given right judgment, 
for when the accused touched the reed, he had returned the 
pearl into the hand of the accuser ; but David by his doubt in 
the reed displeased Him who gave it, and the reed and the 
bell were taken from him. 

After that, David often gave wrong judgment till Solomon, 
his son, was of age to advise him. 

One day, when Solomon was aged thirteen, there came two 
men before the king. The first said, " I sold a house and 
cellar to this man, and on digging in the cellar he found a 
treasure hidden there by my forefathers. I sold him the house 
and cellar but not the treasure. Bid him restore to me what 
he has found." 

But the other said, "Not so. He sold me the house, the 
cellar, and all its contents." 

Then King David said, " Let the treasure be divided, and 
let half go to one, and half go to the other." 

But Solomon stood up and said to the plaintiff, " Hast thou 
not a son ? " He said, " I have." 

Then said Solomon to the defendant, " Hast thou not a 
daughter ? " He answered, " I have." 

" Then," said Solomon, " give thy daughter to the son of 
this man who sold thee the house, and let the treasure go as a 
marriage gift to thy daughter and his son " And all applauded 
this judgment. 

On another occasion, a husbandman came before the judg- 
ment-seat to lay complaint against a herdsman, whose sheep 
had broken into his field, and had pastured on his young wheat, 



342 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxvn. 

Then King David said, " Let some of the sheep be given to 
the husbandman." 

But Solomon stood up, and said, " Not so ; let the husband- 
man have the wool, and the milk of the flock, till the wheat is 
grown up again as it was before the sheep destroyed it." 

And all wondered at his wisdom. 

But the king's elders and councillors were filled with envy, 
because this child's opinion was preferred before theirs ; and 
they complained to King David. 

Then David said, " Call an assembly of the people, and 
prove Solomon before them, whether he be learned in the Law, 
and whether he have understanding and wit."- 

So the people were assembled, and the elders took council 
together how they might perplex him with hard questions. 
But or ever they asked him, he answered what they had 
devised, and they were greatly confounded, so that the people 
supposed this was a preconcerted scene arranged by the king. 
Then, when the elders were silenced, Solomon turned to their 
chief, and said, " I too will prove you with questions. What 
you have asked me have been trials of my learning, but what 
I will ask you shall put to proof the readiness of your wits. 
What is all, and what is nothing? What is something, and 
what is naught ? " 

The elder was silent ; he thought, but he knew not what 
was the answer. And all the people perplexed themselves to 
discover the riddle, but they could not. Then said Solomon, 
" God is all, and the world He made is as nothing before Him. 
The faithful is something, but the hypocrite is naught." 

Thereupon he turned to a second, and he said : " What are 
most and what are fewest ? What is the sweetest, and what 
is the bitterest ? " But when the second could find no solution 
to these questions, Solomon answered, " Most men are unbe- 
lievers, the fewest have true faith. The sweetest thing is the 
possession of a virtuous wife, good children, and a competence ; 
the bitterest thing is to have a disreputable wife, disorderly 
children, and penury." 

Then Solomon turned to a third elder and asked : " What 
is the most odious sight, and what is the most beautiful sight ? 
What is the surest thing, and what is that which is most 
insecure ? " 

And when this elder also was unable to give an answer, 
Solomon interpreted his riddle once more, " The most odious 



xxxvii.] DA VID. 343 

sight is to see a righteous man fall away ; the most beautiful 
sight is to see a sinner repent. The surest thing is death, the 
most insecure thing is life." After that Solomon said to all 
the people, " Ye see that the oldest and the most learned men 
are not always the wisest. True wisdom comes not with 
years, nor is derived from books, but is a gift of God the All- 
wise." 

Solomon by his words threw the whole assembly into as- 
tonishment, and all the heads of the people cried with one 
voice, " Praised be the Lord, who has given to our king a son 
who surpasses all in wisdom, and who is worthy to ascend 
the throne of his father David." 

And David thanked God that He had given him such a 
wise son, and now he desired but one thing further of God r 
and that was to see him who was to be his companion in Par- 
adise ; for to every man is allotted by God one man to be his 
friend and comrade in the Land of Bliss. 

So David prayed to God, and his prayer was heard, and a 
voice fell from heaven and bade him confer the kingdom upon 
his son Solomon, and then to go forth, and the Lord would 
lead him to the place where his companion dwelt. 

David therefore had his son Solomon crowned king, and 
then he went forth out of Jerusalem, and he was in pilgrim's 
garb, with a staff in his hand; and he went from city to city, 
and from village to village, but he found not the man whom 
he sought. One day, after the lapse of many weeks, he drew 
near to a village upon the borders of the Mediterranean Sea, 
and alongside of him walked a poorly dressed man laden with 
a heavy bundle of fagots. This man was very old and rever- 
end of aspect, and David watched him. He saw him dispose 
of his wood and then give half the money he had obtained by 
the sale of it to a poor person. After that he bought a piece 
of bread and retired from the town. As he went, there passed 
a blind woman, and the old man broke his bread in half, and 
gave one portion to the woman ; and he continued his course 
till he reached the mountains from which he had brought his 
load in the morning. 

David thought, "This man well deserves to be my com- 
panion for eternity, for he is pious, charitable, and reverend 
of aspect : I must ask his name." 

He went after the old man, and he found him in a cave 
among the rocks, which was lighted by a rent above. David 



344 0LD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxvil 

stood without and heard the hermit pray, and read the Tora 
and the Psalms, till the sun went down. Then he lighted a 
lamp and began his evening prayers ; and when they were 
finished, he drew forth the piece of bread, and ate the half 
of it. 

David, who had not ventured to interrupt the devotions of 
the old hermit, now entered the cave and saluted him. 

The hermit asked, "Who art thou? I have seen no man 
here before, save only Mata, son of Johannaj the companion 
destined to King David in Paradise." 

David told his name, and asked after this Mata. But the 
aged man could give him no information of his whereabouts. 
"But," said he, "go over these mountains, and observe well 
what thou lightest upon, and it may be thou wilt find Mata." 

David thanked him, and continued his search. For long it 
was profitless. He traversed the stony dales and the barren 
mountains, and saw no trace of human foot. At last, just as 
liope was abandoning him, on the summit of a rugged peak he 
saw a wet spot. Then he stood still in surprise. " How 
comes there to be a patch of soft and sloppy ground here ? " 
he asked • " the topmost peak of a stony mountain is not the 
place where springs bubble up." 

As he thus mused, an aged man came up the other side of 
the mountain. His eyes were depressed to the earth, so that 
he saw not David. And when he came to the wet patch, he 
stood still, and prayed with such fervor, that rivulets of tears 
flowed out of his eyes, and sank into the soil ; and thus David 
learnt how it was that the mountain-top was wet. 

• Then David thought, " Surely this man, whose eyes are 
such copious fountains of tears, must be my companion in 
Paradise." 

Yet he ventured not to interrupt him in his prayer, till he 
heard him ask, " O my God ! pardon King David his sins, and 
save him from further trespass ! for my sake be merciful to 
him, for Thou hast destined him to be my comrade for all 
eternity ! " 

Then David ran towards him, but the old man totttered and 
fell, and before the king reached him he was dead. 

So David dug into the ground which had been moistened 
by the tears of Mata, and laid him there, and said the funeral 
prayer over him, and covered him with the earfh, and then 
returned to Jerusalem. 



xxxvn.] DAVID; 345 

And when he came into his harem, the Angel of Death 
stood there and greeted him with the words, u God has heard 
thy supplications ; now has thy life reached its end." 

Then David said, " The Lord's will be done ! " and he fell 
down upon the ground, and expired. 

Gabriel descended to comfort Solomon, and to give him 
a heavenly shroud in which to wrap David. And all Israel 
followed the bier to Machpelah, where Solomon laid him by 
the side of Abraham and Joseph. 1 

It will doubtless interest the reader to have an English 
version of the Psalm supposed to have been composed 1 ' by 
David after the slaying of Goliath, which is not included in 
the Psalter, as it is supposed to be apocryphal. 

Psalm CLI. {Pusillus eratn). 

1. I was small among my brethren ; and growing up in my 
father's house, I kept my father's sheep. 

2. My hands made the organ : and my fingers shaped the 
psaltery. 

3. And who declared unto my Lord ! He, the Lord, He 
heard all things. 

4. He sent His angel, and He took me from my father's 
sheep ; He anointed me in mercy with His unction. 

5. Great and goodly are my brethren : but with them 
the Lord was not well pleased. 

6. I went to meet the stranger : and he cursed me by all 
his idols. 

7. But I smote off his head with his own drawn sword: 
and I blotted out the reproach of Israel. 

This simple and beautiful psalm does not exist in Hebrew, 
but is found in Greek, in some psalters of the Septuagint ver- 
sion, headed " A Psalm of David when he had slain Goliath." 
S. Athanasius mentions it with praise, in his address to Mar- 
cellinus on the Interpretation of the Psalms, and in the 
Synopsis of Holy Scripture. It was versified in Greek in 
a. d. 360, by Apollinarius Alexandrinus. 2 

The subjoined shield of David is given in a Hebrew book 

1 Weil. pp. 213-224. 

* Greek text, and Latin translation in Fabricus ; Pseudigr. Vet. Test.. 
t. ii. pp. 9°5-7- 



346 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxvn. 

on the properties and medicaments of things. It is said to 
be a certain protection against fire. A cake of bread must be 
made, and on it must be impressed the seal or shield of David, 
having in the corner the word *y £9, and in the middle JO''JK 
(Thou art mighty to everlasting, O Jehovah) ; and it must be 

I 

A 

/ \ 

/ TED \ 
/ \ 



«,«*— , 



\ / \ / 

"v TED / V TED / 

v . / \ / 

\ / \ / 

V *7iK X/ 

/ \ / v 

/ TED \ / TED \ 

V 

cast aside into the fire with the woids of Psalm cvi. 30, 
46 Then stood up Phinees and prayed ; and so the plague ceased;" 
and also Exod. xii. 27, "ft is the sacrifice of the Lord's pass- 
over, who passed "ver the houses of the children of Israel 



xxxviii.] SOLOMON. 342 

in Egypt, when He smote the Egyptians, and delivered our 
homes" 1 

XXXVIII. 
SOLOMON. 3 

I. HOW SOLOMON OBTAINED POWER. 

After Solomon had executed the last offices for his father, 
he rested in a dale betwixt Hebron and Jerusalem, and fell a- 
sleep. As he returned to himself, there stood before him eight 
angels, each with countless wings, diverse in kinds and col- 
ors ; and the angels bowed themselves before him three times. 

" Who are ye ? " asked Solomon, with eyes still closed. 

" We are the angels ruling over the eight winds of heaven," 
was their reply. " God hath sent us to give thee dominion over 
ourselves and over the winds subject to us. They will storm 
and bluster, or breathe softly, at thy pleasure. At thy com- 
mand they will swoop down on earth, and bear thee over the 
highest mountains." 

The greatest of the angels gave him a jewel inscribed with 
" God is Power and Greatness," and said, " When thou hast a 
command for us, then raise this stone towards heaven, and we 
shall appear before thee as thy servants." 

When these angels had taken their departure, there appeared 
four more, of whom each was unlike the other. One was in 
fashion as a great whale, another as an eagle, the third as a 
lion, and the fourth as a serpent. And they said, " We are 
they who rule over all the creatures that move in the earthy 
and air, and water ; and God hath sent us to give thee domin- 
ion over all creatures, that they may serve thee and thy 
friends with all good, and fight against thine enemies with all 
their force." 

The angel who ruled over the winged fowls extended to 
Solomon a precious stone, with the insciiption, "Let all 
creatures praise the Lord ! " and said, " By virtue of this stone, 
raised above thy head, canst thou call us to thy assistance, and 
to fulfil thy desire." 

1 JTiOrp ni^D ; Amst. 1703. 

2 Solomon was twelve years old when he succeeded David. (Abulfeda, 
p. 43 ; Bartolocci, iv. p. 371.) 



348 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS, [xxxviii. 

Solomon immediately ordered the angels to bring before 
him a pair of every living creature that moves in the water, 
flies in the air, and walks or glides or creeps on the earth. 

The angels vanished, and in an instant they were before 
Solomon once more, and there were assembled in his sight 
pairs of every creature, from the elephant to the smallest fly. 

Solomon conversed with the angels, and was instructed by 
them in the habits, virtues, and names of all living creatures ; 
he listened to the complaints of the beasts, birds, and fishes, 
and by his wisdom he rectified many evil customs among 
them. 

He entertained himself longest with the birds, both on 
account of their beautiful speech, which he understood, and 
also because of the wise sentences which they uttered. 

This is the signification of the cry of the peacock : " With 
what measure thou judgest others, thou shalt thyself be 
judged." 

This is the song of the nightingale: "Contentment is the 
greatest happiness." 

The turtle dove calls, "Better were it for some created 
things that they had never been created." 

The peewit pipes, " He that hath no mercy, will not find 
mercy himself." 

The bird syrdar cries, " Turn to the Lord, ye sinners ! " 

The swallow screams, " Do good, and ye shall receive a 
reward." 

This is the pelican's note : " Praise the Lord in heaven 
and earth." 

The dove chants, "The fashion of this world passeth 
away, but God remaineth eternal." 

The kata says, " Silence is the best safeguard." 

The cry of the eagle is, " However long life may be, yet 
its inevitable term is death." 

The croak of the raven is, " The further from man, the 
happier I." 

The cock crows before the dawn and in the day, " Remem- 
ber thy Creator, O thoughtless man ! " 

Solomon chose the cock and the peewit to be his constant 
companions — the first because of its cry, and the second be- 
cause it can see through the earth as through glass, and could 
therefore tell him where fountains of water were to be found. 

After he had stroked the dove, he bade her dwell with her 



xxxviii.] SOLOMON, 349 

young in the temple he was about to build to the honor of the 
Most High. This pair of doves, in a few years, multiplied to 
such an extent, that all who sought the temple moved through 
the quarter of the town it occupied under the shadow of the 
wings of doves. 

When Solomon was again alone, an angel appeared to him, 
whose upper half was like to earth, and whose lower half was 
like to water. He bowed himself before the king, and said, 
"I am created by God to do His will on the dry land and in 
the watery sea. Now, God has sent me to serve thee, and thou 
canst rule over earth and water. At thy command the highest 
mountains will be made plain, and the level land will rise into 
steep heights. Rivers and seas will dry up, and the desert will 
stream with water at thy command." Then he gave to him a 
precious stone, with the legend engraved thereon, " Heaven 
and earth serve God." 

Finally, an angel presented to him another stone, whereon 
was cut, " There is no God save God, and Mohammed is the 
messenger of God." 

"By means of this stone," said the angel, "thou shalt 
have dominion over the whole world of spirits, which is far 
greater than that of men and beasts, and occupies the space 
between earth and heaven. One portion of the spirits is faith- 
ful, and praises the One only God ; the other portion is un- 
faithful : some adore fire, others the sun, others worship the 
planets, many revere winter. The good spirits surround the 
true believers among men, and protect them from all evil ; the 
evil spirits seek to injure them and deceive them." 

Solomon asked to see the Jinns in their natural and orig- 
inal shape. The angel shot like a column of flame into heav- 
en, and shortly returned with the Satans and Jinns in great 
hosts : and Solomon, though he had power over them, shud- 
dered with disgust at their loathsome appearance. He saw 
men's heads attached to the necks of horses, whose feet were 
those of an ass ; the wings of an eagle attached to the hump 
of a dromedary \ the horns of a gazelle on the head of a pea- 
cock. 1 

2. HOW SOLOMON FEASTED ALL FLESH. 

When Solomon returned home, he placed the four stones, 
which the angels had given him, in a ring, so that he might at 

1 Weil, pp. 225-231 ; Eisenmenger, p. 440, etc. 



350 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxvnr. 

any moment exercise his authority over the realms of spirits 
and beasts, the earth, the winds and the sea. 

His first care was to subject the Jinns. He made them all 
appear before him, with the exception of the mighty Sachr, 
who kept himself in concealment on an unknown island in 
the ocean, and the great Eblis, the master of all evil spirits, to 
whom God had promised complete liberty till the day of the 
last judgment. 

When all the demons were assembled, Solomon pressed his 
seal upon their necks to mark them as his slaves. Then he 
commanded all the male Jinns to collect every sort of material 
for the construction of the temple he was about to build. He 
bade also the female Jinns cook, bake, wash, weave, and carry 
water ; and what they made, he distributed amongst the poor. 
The meats they cooked were placed on tables which covered 
an area of four square miles ; and daily thirty thousand por- 
tions of beef, as many portions of mutton, and very many birds 
and fishes were devoured. The Jinns and devils sat at iron 
tables, the poor at tables of wood, the heads of the people at 
silver tables, the wise and pious at tables of gold ; and these 
latter were served by Solomon in person. 

One day, when all spirits, men, beasts, and birds rose satis- 
fied from the tables, Solomon besought God to permit him to 
feed to the full all created animals at once. God replied that 
he demanded an impossibility. " But," said he, "try to-mor- 
row what thou canst do to satisfy the dwellers of the sea." 

On the morrow, accordingly, Solomon bade the Jinns lade 
a hundred thousand camels and the same number of mules 
with corn, and lead them to the sea-shore. He then cried to 
the fishes and said : " Come, ye dwellers in the water, eat and 
be satisfied ! " 

Then came all manner of fishes to the surface of the water, 
and Solomon cast the corn to them, and they ate and were 
satisfied, and dived out of sight. But all at once a whale 
lifted his head above the surface, and it was like a mountain. 
Solomon bade the spirits pour one sack of corn after another 
down the throat of the monster, till all the store was exhausted,, 
there remained not a single grain. But the whale cried, " Feed 
me, Solomon ! feed me ! never have I suffered from hunger as 
I have this day ! " 

Solomon asked the whale if there were any more in the 
deep like him. The fish answered: "There are of my race as 



txxviii.] SOLOMON. 351 

many as a thousand kinds, and the smallest is so large that thou 
wouldst seem in its belly to be but a sand-grain in the desert." 

Solomon cast himself upon the earth, and began to weep, 
and prayed to God to pardon him for his presumption. 

" My kingdom, " called to him the Most High, " is far great- 
er than thine. Stand up, and behold one creature over which 
no man has yet obtained the mastery." 

Then the sea began to foam and toss, as though churned 
by the eight winds raging against it, and out of the tumbling 
brine rose the Leviathan, so great that it could easily have 
swallowed seven thousand whales such as that which Solomon 
had attempted to feed ; and the Leviathan cried, with a voice 
like the roar of thunder : " Praised be God, who by His mighty 
power preserves me from perishing by hunger." 1 



3. THE BUILDING OF THE TEMPLE!. 2 

When Solomon returned from the sea-shore to Jerusalem, 
he heard the noise of the hammers, and saws, and axes of 
the Jinns who were engaged in the building of the temple ; 
and the noise was so great that the inhabitants of Jerusalem 
could not hear one another speak. Therefore he commanded 
the Jinns to cease from their work, and he asked them if there 
was no means whereby the metals and stones could be shaped 
and cut without making so much noise. 

Then one of the spirits stepped forth and said : " The 
means is known only to the mighty Sachr, who has hitherto 
escaped your authority." 

" Is it impossible to capture this Sachr ? " asked Solomon. 

" Sachr," replied the Jinn, " is stronger than all the rest 
of us together, and he excels us in speed as he does in strength. 
However, I know that once every month he goes to drink of 
a fountain in the land of Hidjr ; by this, O king, thou mayest 
be able to bring him under thy sceptre." 

Solomon, thereupon, commanded a Jinn to fly to Hidjr- 
and to empty the well of water, and to fill it up with strong 

1 Weil, pp. 231-4. 

2 The story of the building of the temple, with the assistance of Scha* 
mir, has been already related by me in my " Curious Myths of the Middle 
Ages." 



352 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxvin. 

wine. He bade other Jinns remain in ambush beside the well 
and watch the result. 1 

After some weeks, when Solomon was pacing his terrace 
before his palace, he saw a Jinn flying, swifter than the wind,, 
from the direction of Hidjr, and he asked, " What news of 
Sachr?" 

" Sachr lies drunk on the edge of the fountain," said the 
Jinn ; and we have bound him with chains as thick as the pil- 
lars of the temple ; nevertheless, he will snap them as the 
hair of a maiden, when he wakes from his drunken sleep." 

Solomon instantly mounted the winged Jinn and bade him 
transport him to the well at Hidjr. In less than an hour he 
stood beside the intoxicated demon. He was not a moment 
too soon, for the fumes of the wine were passing off, and, if 
Sachr had opened his eyes, Solomon would have been unable to 
constrain him. But now he pressed his signet upon the nape 
of his neck : Sachr uttered a cry so that the earth rocked on 
its foundations. 

" Fear not," said Solomon, " mighty Jinn ; I will restore 
thee to liberty if thou wilt tell me how I may without noise 
cut and shape the hardest metals." 

" I myself know no means," answered the demon ; " but 
the raven can tell thee how to do this. Take the eggs out of 
the raven's nest and place a crystal cover upon them, and thou 
shalt see how the raven will break it." 

Solomon followed the advice of Sachr. A raven came, 
and fluttered some time round the cover, and seeing that she 
could not reach her eggs, she vanished, and returned shortly 
with a stone in her beak, named Samur or Schamir ; and no 
sooner had she touched the crystal therewith, than it clave 
asunder. 

" Whence hast thou this stone ? " asked Solomon of the 
raven. 

" It comes from a mountain in the far west," replied the 
bird. 

Solomon commanded a Jinn to follow the raven to the 
mountain, and to bring him more of these stones. ' Then 

1 The Rabbinic story and the Mussulman are precisely the same, with 
the difference that Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, instead of the Jinns, lies 
in ambush and captures Sachr or Aschmedai (Asmodeus). (Eisenmenger, 
i. 351-8.) As I have given the Jewish version in my. u Curious Myths of 
the Middle Ages," I give the Arab story here. 



xxxviii.] SOLOMON. 



353 






he released Sachr as he had promised. When the chains 
were taken off him, he uttered a loud cry of joy, which in Sol- 
omon's ears, bore an ominous sound as of mocking laughter. 

When the Jinn returned with the stone Schamir, Solomon 
mounted a Jinn and was borne back to Jerusalem, where he 
distributed the stones amongst the Jinns, and they were able 
to cut the rocks for the temple without noise. 1 

Solomon also made an ark of the covenant ten ells square, 
and he sought to bring it into the Holy of Holies that he had 
made ; and when he sought to bring the ark through the door 
of the temple, the door was ten ells wide. Now, that was the 
width of the ark, and ten ells will not go through ten ells. 
Then, when Solomon saw that the ark would not pass through 
the door, he was ashamed and cried, " Lift up your heads, O 
ye gates, and the King of Glory shall come in ! " Then the 
gates tottered, and would have fallen on his head to punish 
what they supposed to be a blasphemy, for the doors thought 
that by " the King of Glory " he meant himself; and they cried 
to him in anger, " Who is the King of glory ? " and he answered, 
" It is the Lord of Hosts, He is the King of Glory." And be- 
cause the doors were so zealous for the honor of God, the Lord 
promised them that they should never fall into the hands of the 
enemies of Israel. Therefore, when the temple was burnt and 
the treasures were carried into Babylon, the gates sank into 
the earth and vanished. And to this the prophet Jeremiah 
refers (Lament, ii. 9).* 

Solomon also built him a palace, with great riches in gold, 
and silver, and precious stones, like no king that was before 
him. Many of the halls had crystal floors, and crystal roofs. 
He had a fountain of liquid brass. 3 He had also a carpet five 
hundred parasangs in length ; and whenever the carpet was 
spread, three hundred thrones of gold and silver were placed 
on it, and Solomon bade the birds of the air spread their wings 
over them for a shade. 4 He built a throne for himself of san- 
dal wood, encrusted with gold and precious stones. 

4. THE TRAVELS OF SOLOMON. 

Whilst the palace was being built, Solomon made a journey 
to Damascus. The Jinn, on whose back he flew, carried him 

1 Weil, pp. 234-7 ; Talmud, Tract. Gittin. fol.68, cols. 1, 2. 

* Jalkut Schimoni, fol. 90, col. 4. • Tabari, i. p. 435. 

4 Tabari, i. p. 436. 



354 0LD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxvill. 

directly over the valley of ants, which is surrounded by such 
crags and precipices, that no man had hitherto seen it. The 
king was much astonished to see such a host of ants under 
him, which were as big as wolves, and which, on account of 
their grey eyes and grey feet, looked from a distance like a 
cloud. The queen of the ants, who, till this moment, had not 
seen a man, was filled with fear when she beheld Solomon, 
and she cried to her host, " Hie to your holes, fly ! " 

But God commanded her not to fear, and to summon all 
her subjects, and to anoint Solomon king of all insects. Sol- 
omon, who heard the words of God, and the answer of the 
queen from a distance of many miles, borne to him upon the 
wind, descended into the valley beside the queen. Immedi- 
ately the whole valley was filled with ants, as far as the eye 
could see. 

Solomon asked the queen, u Why didst thou fear me, being 
surrounded with such a countless and mighty host ? " 

" I fear God alone," answered the queen ; " If any danger 
were to threaten my subjects, at a sign from me seven times as 
many would instantly appear." 

" Wherefore then didst thou command the ants to fly to 
their holes when I appeared ? " 

" Because I feared they would look with wonder and rever- 
ence on thee, and thereby for a moment forget their Creator." 

" I am greater than thou," added the queen of the ants. 

" How so ? " asked Solomon in surprise. 

" Because thou hast a metal throne, but my throne is thy 
hand, on which I now repose," said the ant. 

" Before I leave thee, hast thou no word to say to me ? " 

" I ask nothing of thee, but I give thee a piece of advice. 
As long as thou livest, give not occasion to be ashamed of thy 
name, which signifies The blameless. Beware also never to give 
the ring from thy finger, without saying first, ' In the name of 
the God of all mercy.' " 

Solomon exclaimed, " Lord ! Thy kingdom exceeds and 
excels mine ! " and he bade farewell to the queen of the ants. 1 

After Solomon had visited Damascus, he returned another 
way, so as not to disturb the ants in their pious contemplation. 
As he returned, he heard a cry on the wind, " O God of Abra- 
ham, release me from life ! " Solomon hastened in the direc- 

1 Koran, Sura xxvii.; Tabari, i. c. xxviii.; Weil, pp. 237-9. 



xxxviii.] SOLOMON. 355 

tion of the voice, and found a very aged man, who said he was 
more than three hundred years old, and that he had asked 
God to suffer him to live, till there arose a mighty prophet in 
the land. 

" I am that prophet," said Solomon. Then the Angel of 
Death caught away the old man's soul. 

Solomon exclaimed, " Thou must have been beside me, to 
have acted with such speed, thou Angel of Death." 

But the Angel answered, " Great is thy mistake. Know 
that I stand on the shoulders of an angel, whose head reaches 
ten thousand years' journey above the seventh heaven, and 
whose feet are five hundred years' journey beneath the earth. 
He it is who tells me when I am to fetch a soul. His eyes 
are ever fixed on the tree Sidrat Almuntaha, which bears as 
many leaves as there are living men in the world ; when a man 
is born, a new leaf buds out ; when a man is about to die, the 
leaf fades, and at his death, falls of; and, when the leaf 
withers, I fly to fetch the soul, the name of which is inscribed 
upon the leaf." 

" And what doest thou then ? " 

" Gabriel accompanies me, as often as one of the believers 
dies ; his soul is wrapped in a green silk cloth, and is breathed 
into a green bird, which feeds in Paradise till the end of time. 
But the soul of the sinner is carried by me in a tarred cloth 
to the gates of hell, where it wanders in misery till the last 
day." 

Then Solomon washed the body of the dead man, buried 
him, and prayed for his soul, that it might be eased of the 
pains it would have to undergo during its purgation by the 
angels Ankir and Munkir. 1 

This journey had so exhausted Solomon, that on his return 
to Jerusalem he ordered the Jinns to weave him stout silk 
carpets on which he and all his servants, his throne, tables, and 
kitchen could be accommodated. When he wanted to go a 
journey, he ordered the winds to blow, and raise the carpet 
with all that was on it, and waft it whither he desired to travel. 

One night, Abraham appeared to the king in a dream, and 
said to him : " God has given thee wisdom and power above 
every other child of man ; He has given thee dominion over 
the earth and over the winds ; He has suffered thee to build 

1 The Jews also believed in a purgatory ; see Bartolocci, i. 342. 



356 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxyiii. 

a house to his honor \ thou hast power to speed on the 
back of Jinns or on the wings of the winds where thou listest ; 
now employ the gift of God, and visit the city of Jathrib 
(Medina), which will one day give shelter to the greatest of 
prophets ; also the city Mecca, in which he will be born, and 
the temple which I and my son Ishmael — peace be with him ! 
- — rebuilt after the flood." 

Next morning Solomon announced his intention to make a 
pilgrimage to Mecca, and bade every Israelite join in the expe- 
dition. The number of pilgrims was so great, that Solomon 
was obliged to have a new carpet woven by the Jinns of such 
vast size that it could serve the whole caravan, with the camels 
and oxen and sheep they destined for sacrifice. When ready 
to start, Solomon bade the Jinns and demons fly before the 
carpet ; his confidence in their integrity was so small, that he 
would not trust them out of his sight : for this reason also he 
drank invariably out of crystal goblets, that even when drink- 
ing he might keep his eyes upon them. The birds he ordered 
to fly in ranks above the carpet, to give shadow to the pil- 
grims with their wings. 

When all was in readiness, and men, Jinns, beasts, and 
birds were assembled together, Solomon ordered the winds to 
descend and bear the carpet, with all upon it, into the air, 
and waft it to Medina. 

When they approached this town Solomon made a sign, and 
the birds depressed their wings, and the winds abated, and 
the carpet sank lightly to the earth. But he suffered no man 
to step off the carpet, as Medina was then in the hands of 
idolaters. He alone went to the spot where afterwards Mo- 
hammed was to erect the first mosque — it was then a cemetery 
— and there he offered up his noon-day prayer. Then he 
returned to the carpet ; at a sign the birds spread their wings, 
the winds gathered force and lifted the carpet, and the whole 
caravan sailed through the air to Mecca, which was then under 
the power of the Djorhamides, who were worshippers of the 
One God, and preserved the Kaaba from desecration by idols. 

Solomon, with all his company, entered the city, went in 
procession round the temple, performed the requisite cere- 
monies, and offered sacrifices brought for the purpose from 
Jerusalem. Then he preached a long sermon in the Kaaba, 
in which he prophesied the birth of Mohammed and the future 
glory of Mecca. 



XXX7HI.] SOLOMON, 357 

After three days, Solomon desired to return to Jerusalem, 
and he remounted his throne on the carpet, and all the pilgrims 
resumed their places. When the birds spread their wings, and 
the carpet was again in motion, the king perceived one ray of 
sun which pierced the canopy of birds, and this proved to him 
that one of the birds had deserted its place. 

He called to the eagle, and bade it go through the roll-call 
of the birds, and ascertain which was absent. 

The eagle obeyed, and found that the peewit was missing. 
Solomon was inflamed with anger, especially as he needed the 
peewit during his journey over the desert, to discover for him 
the hidden wells and fountains. 

" Soar aloft ! " exclaimed Solomon to the eagle, " and seek 
me this runaway, that I may strip him of his feathers and 
send him naked forth into the sun, to become the prey of the 
insects." 

The eagle mounted aloft, till the earth was beneath him 
like a revolving bowl, and he looked in all directions, and at 
length he spied the peewit coming from the south, The eagle 
would have grasped him in his talons, but the little bird im- 
plored him, by Solomon, to spare him till he had related his 
history to the king. 

" Trust not in the protection of Solomon," said the eagle ; 
" thy mother shall bewail thee." Then the eagle brought the 
culprit before the king, whose countenance was inflamed with 
anger, and who, with a frown, signed the runagate to be brought 
before his throne. 1 

The peewit trembled in every limb, and, in token of sub- 
mission, let wings and tail droop to the ground. As Solo- 
mon's face still expressed great anger, the bird exclaimed, " O 
king and prophet of God ! remember that thou also shalt stand 
before the judgment-throne of God ! " 

" How canst thou excuse thine absence without my con- 
sent ? " asked the king. 

" Sire I bring thee news of a land and a queen of which 
thou hast not even heard the name — the land of Sheba, and 
the queen, Balkis. 

" These names are indeed strange to me. Who told thee 
of them ? " 

" A lapwing of that country whom I met in my course, to 

1 Targum Scheni Esther, fol. 401 tells the same of the moorcock. 



358 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxviir. 

whom I spoke of thy majesty, and the greatness of thy domin- 
ion, and wisdom, and power. Then he was astonished, and 
he related to me that thy name was unknown in his native 
land ; and he spake to me of his home and the wonders that 
are there, and he persuaded me to accompany him thither. 
And on the way he related to me the history of the Queen of 
Sheba, who commands an army generalled by twelve thousand 
officers." 

Solomon bade the eagle release the peewit, and bade him 
relate what he had heard of Sheba and its queen. 

5. THE HISTORY OF THE QUEEN OF SHEBA. 

" Sheba," said the peewit, " is the name of the king who 
founded the kingdom • it is also the name of the capital. She- 
ba was a worshipper of the sun, Eblis having drawn him from 
the true God, who sends rain from heaven, and covers the 
earth with plenty, and who reads the thoughts of men's hearts. 

" A succession of kings followed Sheba : the last of the 
dynasty was Scharabel, a tyrant of such dissolute habits that 
every husband and father feared him. He had a vizir of such 
singular beauty that the daughters of the Jinns took pleasure 
in contemplating him, and frequently transformed themselves 
into gazelles that they might trot alongside of him as he walked,, 
and gaze with admiration on his exquisite beauty. One of 
these Jinn damsels, Umeira by name, conceived for the vizir 
a violent passion, and forgetting the great distance which sep- 
arates the race of the Jinns from that of mortals, she appeared 
to him one day as he was hunting, and offered him her hand, 
on condition that he should fly with her into her own land, 
and that he should never ask her origin. The vizir, dazzled 
by the marvellous beauty of Umeira, gladly yielded, and she 
transported him to an island in the midst of the ocean, where 
she married him. At the end of nine months she gave birth 
to a daughter, whom she named Balkis. The vizir, all this 
while, was ignorant of the nature of his bride, and one day for- 
got himself so far as to ask her to what race she belonged. 
No sooner had he asked the fatal question, than, with a wail 
of sorrow, she vanished forever from his sight. 

" The vizir now left the island, and, regaining his native 
country, retired with his babe to a valley far from the capital, 
and there lived in seclusion. 



xxxvin.] SOLOMON. 359 

" As Balkis grew up, her beauty became more striking, and 
was of such a superhuman nature, that her father became un- 
easy lest the fame of it should reach the dissolute monster 
then seated on the throne of Sheba, and lest his daughter 
should be ravished from his arms. He therefore redoubled 
his precautions to guard Balkis, keeping her much at home, 
and only allowing her to appear veiled in public. But these 
precautions were vain. Scharabel was in the habit of travel- 
ling about his empire in disguise, and making himself, by this 
means, personally acquainted with the condition of his estates. 
"" On one of these expeditions he appeared, dressed in rags, 
as a mendicant, at the door of the ex-vizir, and obtained a 
glimpse of Balkis, then thirteen years old, lovely as a houri ; 
she stepped out to give the beggar alms. At the samcrnoment, 
the father hurried out towards his daughter. The eyes of the 
two men met ; a mutual recognition ensued. The vizir fell at 
the feet of his king, and entreated pardon, telling him all that 
had happened ; and Scharabel, who had fallen in love at first 
glance with Balkis, readily pardoned him, restored him to his 
place as grand vizir, and lodged him in a magnificent palace 
near Sheba. 

" Installed there, the vizir was full of disquiet. His daugh- 
ter observing this, inquired the cause, and received from her 
father the answer that he dreaded lest the tyrant should carry 
her off to his harem ; * and, 1 said the unhappy man, ' I had 
rather see thee dead, Balkis, than in the power of this licentious 
monster." 

" i Do not fear for me, my father,' replied Balkis ; ' what 
thou dreadest shall not take place. Appear cheerful before the 
king. If he wishes to marry me, then ask him to give me a 
splendid wedding." 

" A few days after, Scharabel sent to ask the hand of Bal- 
kis. The virgin replied that it should be his if he would sol- 
emnize the marriage with great pomp. To this the king agreed, 
and a magnificent banquet was prepared. 

" After dinner, the vizir and all the company retired, leav- 
ing Balkis alone with the king. There were, however, four fe- 
male slaves present, one singing, another harping, a third danc- 
ing, and a fourth pouring out wine for the king. Balkis took 
the goblet, and plied her royal bridegroom well, till he fell 
drunk upon the floor, and then, with a dagger, she stabbed 
him to the heart. 



360 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxviiiu 

" She at once communicated with her father, and bade him 
send orders throughout the town that all the citizens were to 
bring their daughters before the king, that he might add the 
comely ones to his already extensive list of wives and concu- 
bines. He obeyed her, and the commotion in the town was 
prodigious. Parents gathered their friends, those who were of- 
ficers in the army agitated amongst their soldiers, and the whole 
town rose up in revolt, and rushed furiously to the palace, de- 
termined on the death of the tyrant. 

" Then Balkis cut off the head of the king, and showed ij; to 
the excited multitude from a window. A cry of joy rang through 
Sheba. The palace gates were thrown open, and Balkis was 
unanimously elected queen in the room of the murdered tyrant. 

" Prom that hour she has governed Sheba with prudence,, 
and has made the country prosperous. She sits to hear suits, 
and gives judgment on a throne of gold, robed in splendor. All 
prospers under her wise administration : but, alas ! like her 
predecessors, she too is a worshipper of the sun." 

When Solomon heard the story of the peewit, he wrote a 
letter and sealed it with his ring, gave it to the bird, and bade 
him carry it immediately to the Queen of Sheba. 

The peewit flew like an arrow, and on the morrow appeared 
before Balkis, and gave her the missive. The queen broke the 
seal and read : " Solomon, son of David, and servant of the 
Most High God, to Balkis, queen of Sheba, sendeth greeting. 
In the name of the merciful and gracious God, peace be to 
those who walk in His ways. Do what I bid thee : submit im- 
mediately to my sceptre." * 

1 This is the letter according to Rabbinic authors : " Greeting to thee 
and to thine ; from me, King Solomon. It is known to thee that the holy, 
ever-blessed God has made me lord and king over the wild beasts and birds 
of heaven, and over the devils, and spirits, and ghosts of the night, and that 
all kings, from the rising to the down-setting of the sun, come and greet 
me. If thou also wilt come and salute me, then I will show thee great 
honor above all the kings that lie prostrate before me. But if thou wilt not 
come, and wilt not salute me, then will I send kings, and soldiers, and 
horsemen against thee. And if thou sayest in thine heart, ' Hath King 
Solomon kings, and soldiers, and horsemen ? ' then know that the wild 
beasts are his kings, and soldiers, and horsemen. And if thou sayest, ' What, 
then, are his horsemen ? ' know that the birds of heaven are his horsemen. 
His army are ghosts, and devils, and spectres of the night ; and they shall 
torment and slay you at night in your beds, and the wild beasts will rend 
you in the fields, and the birds will tear the flesh of you." This letter, the 
Jews say, was sent to the Queen of Sheba by a moorcock. (Targum Scheni? 
Esther, fol. 401, 440). 



■sncxvm.] SOLOMON. 36 1 

The queen, startled at the abrupt and peremptory command, 
read the letter to her council, and asked their advice. 

They urged her to follow her own devices, and promised to 
agree to whatever she thought fit. She then said : " You know 
what disasters follow on war. The letter of Solomon is threat- 
ening ; I will send him a messenger, and propitiate him with 
gifts. If he accepts them, he is not above other kings ; if he 
rejects them, he is a prophet, and we must yield to his sway." 

She then dressed five hundred boys as girls, and five hun- 
dred girls she equipped in boys' clothes. She collected, for 
presents, a thousand carpets of gold and silver tissue, a crown 
adorned with pearls and diamonds, and a great quantity of 
perfumes. 

She also placed a pearl, a diamond cut through in zigzags, 
and a crystal goblet, in a box, and gave it to her chief ambas- 
sador. 

Finally, she wrote a letter to Solomon, telling him that, if 
he was a prophet, he would be able to distinguish boys from 
girls in the train of the ambassadors, that he would be able to 
guess the contents of the box, pierce the pearl, thread the 
diamond, and fill the goblet with water which came neither 
from earth nor heaven. The chief nobles of Sheba were sent 
to bear the letter. Before they left, she said to them : " If 
Solomon receives you with arrogance, fear nothing ; pride is a 
sure token of weakness. If he receives you graciously, be 
careful — he is a prophet." The peewit, who had watched all 
these proceedings, and listened to the message and advice, 
now flew to Solomon and told him all. 

The great king immediately ordered his Jinns to spread 
his carpet seven leagues long, leading from his throne towards 
Sheba. He then surrounded himself with gold and gems, and 
gathered all his courtiers and officers together, and prepared 
for the audience. 

When the ambassadors of Sheba set their feet on the 
carpet — the end of which was beyond the range of vision — 
they were full of astonishment. This astonishment increased, 
and became terror, when they passed between ranks of demons, 
and Jinns, and nobles, and princes, and soldiers, extending 
for many miles. 

When the leaders of the embassy reached the foot of the 
throne, Solomon received them with a gracious smile. Then 
ihey presented the letter of the queen. Solomon, without 
16 



362 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxviir. 

opening it, told them its contents, for it had been read by the 
peewit. They offered the box, and he said that in it were a 
pearl, a diamond, and a goblet. He next ordered his servants 
to bring silver ewers before the train of the ambassadors, that 
they might wash their hands after their journey. Solomon 
watched intently, and he picked out the boys from the girls at 
once ; for the boys dipped their hands only in the water, whilst 
the girls tucked up their sleeves to their shoulders and washed 
arms as well as hands. 

Then the box was opened and the pearl produced. Solo- 
mon unclasped his pouch and drew forth Schamir, applied it to 
the pearl, and a hole was drilled through it immediately. 
Next he took the diamond. The hole pierced in it wound 
about, and a thread inserted in one end would not pass through 
to the other end. Solomon took a piece of silk, called to him 
a worm, put one end of the thread in its mouth and inserted it 
in the diamond. The worm crawled down the winding pas- 
sage, and appeared at the other opening with the silk. In 
gratitude to the little creature, Solomon gave it for its food for- 
ever the mulberry-tree. Then he took the crystal goblet. He 
summoned to him a huge negro slave, bade him mount a wild 
horse and gallop it about the plain till it steamed with sweat. 
Then with ease, the monarch rilled the chalice with water that 
neither came from earth or heaven. 

Solomon, having accomplished these tasks, said to the am- 
bassadors : " Take back your presents, I do not want them. 
Tell the queen what you have seen, and bid her submit to my 
rule." 

When Balkis had heard the report of her servants, she saw 
that it was in vain for her to resist. 

" Solomon," said she, " is a great prophet, and I must my- 
self do him homage." 

She accordingly hastened to prepare for her journey, and 
marched to King Solomon at the head of her twelve thousand 
generals, and all the armies they commanded. When she wa& 
a league from Solomon, the king hit upon a scheme. He 
called to him a demon, and bade him transport immediately 
from Sheba the throne of the queen, and set it beside his own. 
The Jinn replied that he would bring it before noon, but the 
king could not wait, for the queen would soon be there ; then 
Asaph, his vizir, said " Raise thine eyes, sire, to heaven, and 
before thou canst lower them the throne of Balkis will be here/* 



xxxvm.] SOLOMON. 363 

Asaph knew the ineffable name of God, and therefore was 
able to do what he said. 

Solomon looked up, and before he looked down, Asaph 
had brought the throne. 

As soon as Balkis appeared, Solomon asked her if she 
recognized the seat. She replied, " It is mine, if it is that 
which it was." A reply, which we are told, charmed Solomon. 

Now the Jinns were envious of Balkis, and they sought to 
turn away the heart of Solomon away from her ; so they told 
him that she had hairy legs. 1 

Solomon, accordingly, was particularly curious to inspect 
her legs. He therefore directed the Jinns to lay down in front 
of the throne a pavement of crystal one hundred cubits square. 
Upon this pavement he ordered them to pour water, so that 
it might appear to be water. 

In order to approach Solomon, Queen Balkis raised her 
petticoats, lest they should be wet in passing through what 
she supposed to be water of considerable depth. The first 
step, however, convinced her that the bottom was nearer the 
surface than she anticipated, and so she dropped her petti- 
coats, but not before the great king had seen that the Jinns 
had maligned her legs, and that the only blemish to her legs 
was three goat's hairs ; and these he was enabled to remove 
by a composition of arsenic and lime, which was the first de- 
pilatory preparation ever employed. This was one of the five 
arts introduced by Solomon into the world. The others were, 
the art of taking warm baths, the art of piercing pearls, the 
art of diving, and the art of melting copper. 

The queen stepped gracefully towards the king, and bow- 
ing, offered him two wreaths of flowers, whereof one was nat- 
ural, the other artificial, asking him which he preferred. The 
sagacious Solomon seemed perplexed ; he who had written 
treatises on the herbs, " from the cedar to the hyssop," was 
nearly outwitted. A swarm of bees was fluttering outside a 
window. Solomon ordered the window to be opened, and the 
insects flew in, and settled immediately on the wreath of nat- 
ural flowers, not one approaching the artificial wreath. 

" I will have the wreath the bees have chosen," said the 
king, triumphantly. 

1 According to another account, " that she had ass's legs " (Weil, p. 
267). Tabari says, "hairy legs" (i. p. 441). 



364 0LD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxvur,- 

Solomon took Balkis to be his wife, and she worshipped 
the true God. She gave him all her realm, but he returned it 
to her ; and when she went into her own land, she bore with 
her the fruit of her union with Solomon, and in the course of 
time bore a son, who is the ancestor of the kings of Abys- 
sinia." ' 

6. Solomon's adventure with the apes. 

On one of his journeys, Solomon passed through a valley 
which was inhabited by apes which dressed themselves like 
men, and lived in houses, and ate their food in a way wholly 
superior to other apes. 

Solomon descended from his carpet and marched at the 
head of his soldiers into the valley. The apes assembled to 
resist him, but one of their elders stepped into the midst of 
them and said, " Let us rather submit and lay down our arms, 
for he who comes against us is a holy prophet." 

Then three apes were chosen as ambassadors, and were 
sent to Solomon with overtures of peace. 

Solomon asked them to what race they belonged. 

The envoys replied, " We are of human origin, and of the 
race of Israel, and we are descended from those who, in spite 
of all warnings, have violated the Sabbath, and who have 
therefore, in punishment, been transformed by God into mon- 
keys." 

Solomon had compassion on the apes, and he gave them a 
letter on parchment, assuring to them undisturbed possession 
of their valley against all assault by men. 

And in after days, in the time of the Calif Omar, some of 
his troops invaded this valley, and, with great amazement, be- 
held the apes stone a female which had been taken in adul- 
tery. And when they would conquer the valley, an aged ape 
came before them bearing a parchment letter. This they were 
unable to read ; so they sent it to the Calif Omar, who was 
also unable to decipher the writing ; but a Jew at his court 
read it, and it was an assurance given to the apes against in- 
vasion by King Solomon. 

Therefore Omar sent orders that they were to be left un- 
molested, and returned to them their parchment. 7 

1 Weil, pp. 246-267 ; Tabari, i. cc. 94, 95. 8 Weil, pp. 267-Q^ 



xxxviii.] SOLOMON. 365 



7. SOLOMON MARRIES THE DAUGHTER OF PHARAOH. 

The throne of Solomon had four feet. It was of red ruby, 
and of the ruby were made four lions. None but Solomon 
could sit upon the throne. When Nebuchadnezzar came to 
Jerusalem and sought to ascend the throne, the lions rose and 
struck at him, and broke his legs. He was given remedies, 
and his legs were reset. No one after that ventured to sit 
on the throne. 1 

Djarada was the daughter of King Nubara, of an island in 
the Indian Sea, according to the Arabs ; of King Pharaoh of 
Egypt, say the Jews. 

Solomon marched against the king, on his carpet, with as 
many soldiers as it would accommodate ; defeated him, and 
slew him with his own hand. In the palace of King Nubara 
Solomon found the Princess Djarada, who was more beautiful 
than all the ladies in Solomon's harem, surpassing even the 
beautiful Balkis. 

Solomon made her mount the carpet, and he forced her, by 
threats of death, to share his faith and his couch. But Djarada 
saw in Solomon only the murderer of her father, and she re- 
coiled from his embrace with loathing, and spent her nights 
and days in tears and sighs. Solomon hoped that time would 
heal these wounds and reconcile her to her fate ; but as, after 
the expiration of a year, her sorrow showed no signs of abating, 
he asked her what he could do which might give her comfort. 
She replied that at home was a statue of her father, and that 
she desired greatly to have it in her chamber as a reminder of 
him whom she had lost. Solomon, moved with compassion, 
sent a Jinn for the statue, and it was set up in the apartment 
of Djarada. Djarada immediately prostrated herself before 
it, and offered incense and worship to the image ; and this con- 
tinued for forty days. 

Then Asaph heard of it, and he ascended the pulpit in the 
temple and preached before the king and all the people. He 
declared how holy and pure had been the ancient prophets 
from Adam to David, how they had been preserved clean from 
all idolatry. Then he turned to Solomon, and praised his wis- 
dom and piety during the first years of his reign ; but he re- 

1 Tahari, i. c. xcvi. p. 448. 



366 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxrrai. 

gretted that his latter conduct had not been as full of integrity 
as at first. 

When Solomon heard this, he called Asaph to him, and 
asked him thus before all the people. Asaph answered, " Thou 
hast suffered thy passions to blind thee, so that idolatry is prac- 
tised in thy palace." 

Solomon hastened to the room of Djarada, and found her 
in prayer before the image of her departed father. Then he 
cried out, " We are the servants of God, and to Him shall we 
return." Then he broke the image and punished Djarada. 

After that he put on him garments which had been woven 
and sewn by virgins, strewed ashes on his head, and went into 
the wilderness to bewail his sin. God forgave him, after that 
he had fasted and wept for forty days, 1 

Another sin that Solomon committed was this. He was 
very fond of horses. One day, when the hour of prayer ap- 
proached, the horses of Saul were brought before him ; and 
when nine hundred had passed, Solomon looked up and saw 
that the hour of prayer was passed and he had forgotten to 
give glory to God. Then said Solomon, " I have cared for the 
things of this world, instead of thinking of my Lord ; " and he 
said, " Bring back the horses ; " and when they were brought 
back, he cut their throats. 2 

Some commentators on the Koran object that this was an 
act of injustice, for Solomon had sinned, not the horses ; and 
they explain away the passage by saying that he dedicated the 
horses to God, and that he did not kill them. 8 

8. HOW SOLOMON LOST AND RECOVERED HIS RING. 

One day that Solomon retired to perform the necessary 
functions of nature, he placed his ring in the hand of Djarada ; 
for on such occasions he was wont to remove the ring from 
his finger. For the first time he forgot the advice of the queen 
of the ants, and gave no praise to God as he committed the 
signet to other hands. 

Sachr, the mighty Jinn, 4 took advantage of this act of for- 

1 Weil, pp. 269-271 ; Tabari, pp. 450, 451. 

* Koran, Sura xxxviii. 8 Tabari, pp. 460, 461. 

4 In the Jewish legend, Asmodeus. In " Curiosities of Olden times " 
I have pointed out the connection between the story of the disgrace of 
Solomon and that of Nebuchadnezzar, Jovinian, Robert of Sicily, etc. 



xxxvin.] SOLOMCV, 367 

getfulness, and, assuming the form of Solomon, came to the 
Egyptian princess and asked her for the ring. She, nothing 
doubting, restored it to him ; and Sachr went to the hall of 
audience, and ascended the throne. 

When Solomon returned, he asked Djarada for the signet. 

" I have already given it thee," said she ; and then, contem- 
plating him with attention, she exclaimed, " This is not the 
king ! Solomon is in the judgment-hall ; thou art an impostor, 
an evil spirit who has assumed his shape for evil purposes." 

Then Solomon was driven, at her cry, from the palace, and 
every one treated him as a fool or rogue. He begged from 
door to door, saying, " I, Solomon, was king in Jerusalem ! " 
but the people mocked him. For three years he was an out- 
cast, because he had transgressed three precepts of the Law — 
" The king set over thee . . . shall not multiply horses to 
himself . . . neither shall he multiply wives to himself ; 
neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold." 1 
And this is what befell him in that time. He went into the 
land of the Ammonites, and there he fell into great want ; 
but the master cook of the king's house took him to serve as 
scullion in the kitchen. After he had served for some time, 
he one day cooked some meats for the king ; and when the 
king tasted the meats Solomon had baked, he was well pleased, 
and sent for Solomon and asked him if he would be his head 
cook. 

Then Solomon consented, and the king of the Ammonites 
dismissed the master cook, and placed Solomon in his room, 
and Solomon excelled greatly in cooking, and pleased the king 
more and more with the variety and excellence of his dishes 
every day. 

Now it fell out that Naama, daughter of the king, saw Solo- 
mon from day to day, and she conceived an ardent passion for 
him, and she went to her mother and said, " I shall die of love, 
unless I am given the head cook to husband." 

The queen was astonished and ashamed, and said, " There 
are kings and princes and nobles in Ammon ; take to you which 
you will." But Naama answered, " I will have none save the 
head cook." 

Then the queen went and told the king, and he was exceed- 
ing wroth, and would have slain both Solomon and Naama ; 

1 Deut. xvii. 16 17. 



368 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxvm. 

but when the first fury of his anger was cooled down, he bade 
one of his servants take them, both Solomon and Naama, and 
conduct them into the desert, and there leave them to perish. 1 
The command of the king was executed, and Solomon and 
Naama were left in the wilderness without food.. Then they 
wandered on till they came to the borders of the sea, and 
Solomon found some fishers, and he labored for them, and 
every day they gave him, in payment for his services, two fish. 

Thus passed the time, till one day. Solomon's wife, Naama, 
on cleaning one of the fishes, found in its belly a ring, and she 
brought it to her husband ; and behold ! it was his signet which 
he had put in the hands of Djarada, and which had been taken 
from her by subtlety by the evil spirit. And this was how he 
recovered it : on the ring was engraved the Incommunicable 
Name, and this the Jinn could not endure ; therefore he could 
not wear the signet, and he cast it into the sea, where the fish 
had swallowed it. 

Now when Solomon recovered his ring, he was filled with 
joy, and the light returned to his eyes ; he went back to Jeru- 
salem with great haste, and all the people recognized him, and 
bowed before him : and when the Evil Spirit saw Solomon, and 
that he had the signet upon his hand, he uttered a loud cry and 
fled. Solomon refused to see again Djarada, the author of his 
misfortune ; but he visited Queen Balkis every month, till the 
day of her death. 2 

When Balkis died, he had her body conveyed to Tadmor in 
the desert, the city she had built ; but her grave was known to 
none till the reign of the Calif Walid, when in consequence of 
a heavy rain, the walls of Tadmor fell. Then was found an iron 
sarcophagus which was sixty ells long and forty ells wide, which 
bore this inscription : — " Here lies the pious Balkis, queen of 
Sheba, wife of the prophet Solomon, son of David. She wa< 
converted to the true faith in the thirteenth year of the reign 
of Solomon ; she married him in the fourteenth, and died in the 
three-and-twentieth year of his reign." 

The son of the Calif raised the lid of the coffin, and beheld 
a woman, as fresh as if she had only been lately buried. 

He announced the fact to his father, and asked what should 

1 Emek Nammelek, fol. 14 ; Gittin, fol. 68, col. 2 ; Eisenmenger, i. pp. 
358-60. The Anglo-Saxon story of Havelock the Dane bears a strong re- 
semblance to this part of the story of Solomon. 

2 Eisenmenger, i. pp. 358-60 ; Weil, pp. 271-4; Tabari, c. 96. 



xxxvu.] DA VID. 369 

be done with the sarcophagus. Walid ordered him to leave 
it where it had been found, and to pile blocks of marble over 
it, so that it might not again be disturbed by the hand of 
man. 1 

Solomon, when he was again on the throne, placed a crown 
on the head of Naama, and seated her beside him, and sent for 
the king of Ammon. And when the king came, he was filled 
with astonishment, and wondered how his daughter had escaped 
from the desert and had found favor with the greatest of mon- 
archs. Then said Solomon, " See ! I was thy head-cook, and 
this is thy daughter; bid her come to thee and kiss thee." 
Then the king of Ammon kissed his daughter and returned, 
glad of heart, to his own land. 2 



9. THE DEATH OF SOLOMON. 

When Solomon had recovered his throne, he reigned twenty 
years. His whole reign was forty years, and he lived in all 
fifty-five years. 3 He spent these years in prosecuting the build- 
ing of the temple. Towards the end of his life he often visited 
the temple, and remained there one or two months plunged in 
prayer, without leaving it. He took his nourishment in the 
temple. He even remained a year thus ; and when he was 
standing, with bowed head, in an humble attitude before God, 
no one ventured to approach him, man or Jinn ; if a Jinn drew 
near, fire fell from heaven and consumed him. 

In the garden of Solomon grew every day an unknown tree. 
Solomon asked it, " What is thy name, and what are thy vir- 
tues ? " And the tree answered him, " I am called such and 
such, and I serve such a purpose, either by my fruits, or by my 
shadow, or by my fragrance." 

Then Solomon transplanted it elsewhere ; and if it were a 
tree with medicinal properties, he wrote in books the kinds of 
remedies for which it served. One day Solomon saw in his 
garden a new tree, and he asked it, " What is thy name, and 
what purpose dost thou serve ? " 

The tree replied, " I serve for the destruction of the temple. 
Make of me a staff, whereon to lean." 

Solomon said, " None can destroy the temple as long as I 
am alive." Then he understood that the tree warned him that 

1 Weil, p. 274. 2 Eisenmenger, i. 361. 3 Tabari, p. 454. 

16* 



370 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xxxviu. 

he must shortly die. He pulled up the tree, and of it he made 
a staff, and, when he prayed, he leaned on this staff to keep 
himself upright. 

Solomon knew that the temple was not completed, and that 
if he died,- and the Jinns knew of it, they would leave off build- 
ing ; therefore he prayed, " O Lord ! grant that the event of 
my death may be hidden from the Jinns, that they may finish 
this temple." 

God heard his prayer, that the temple might be completed, 
and that the Jinns might be humbled. Solomon died in the 
temple, standing, leaning on his staff, with his head bowed in 
adoration. And his soul was taken so gently from him by the 
Angel of Death, that the body remained standing ; and so it 
remained for a whole year, and those who saw him thought 
he was absorbed in prayer, and they ventured not to ap- 
proach. 

The Jinns worked night and day till the temple was finish- 
ed. Now, God had ordered, the same day that the soul left 
Solomon, a little white ant, which devours wood, to come up 
out of the earth under the staff, and to gnaw the inside of the 
staff. She ate a little every day ; and as the staff was very strong 
and stout, she had not finished it till the end of the year. 
Then, when the temple was finished, at the same time the 
staff was eaten up, and it crumbled under the weight of Solo- 
mon, and the body fell. Thus the Jinns knew that Solomon 
was dead. Now, wherever the white ant eats wood, the void 
is filled up with clay and water by the Jinns; and this they 
will continue to do till the day of the Resurrection, in gratitude 
to the little ant which announced to them the death of him who 
held them in bondage. If the clay and the water are not in- 
serted by the Jinns, whence can they come ? 

The sages assembled and enclosed an ant in a box, with a 
piece of wood, for a night and a day ; then they compared the 
amount devoured in that time with the length of the staff, and 
thus they ascertained how long a time Solomon had been 
dead. 1 

1 Koran, Sura xxxiv. ; Tabari, c. 97 ; Weil, p. 279. 



xxxvix.] ELIJAH. 3?I 

XXXIX. 
ELIJAH. 

When the prophet Elijah appeared, idolatry was general. 
God sent him to Balbek (Heliopolis), to persuade the inhabi- 
tants to renounce the worship of Baal, from whom the city took 
its name. Some say that Baal was the name of a woman, 
beautiful of countenance. The Israelites also adored Baal ; 
Elijah preached against idolatry ; and Ahab at first believed 
in him, and rejected Baal, but after a while relapsed. Then 
Elijah prayed, and God sent a famine on the land for three 
years, and many men died. None had bread save Elijah, and 
when any smelt the odor of bread, they said " Elijah hath 
passed this way ! " 

One day Elijah came to the house of an old woman who 
had a son named Elisha. Both complained of hunger. Eli- 
jah gave them bread. It is said, likewise, that Elisha was par- 
alytic, and that at the prayer of Elijah he was healed. 

When the famine had lasted three years, Elijah went, ac- 
companied by Elisha, before King Ahab, and he said: — 
" For three years you have been without bread ; let your god 
Baal, if he can, satisfy your hunger. If he cannot, I will pray 
to Jehovah, and He will deliver you out of your distress, if you 
will consent to worship Him." 

Ahab consented. Then Elijah ordered the idol of Baal to 
be taken out of the city, and the worshippers of Baal invoked 
the god, but their prayers remained unanswered. Then Eli- 
jah prayed, and immediately rain fell, and the earth brought 
forth green herb and corn. 

Nevertheless, shortly after, the people returned to idolatry, 
and Elijah was weary of his life ; he consecrated Elisha to 
succeed him, and he prayed to God, " O Lord ! save me from 
this untoward generation." And God heard his cry, and He 
carried him away and gave him life till the day when Israfiel 
shall sound the trump of judgment 1 

Both Jews and Mussulmans believe that Elijah is not dead, 
but that he lives, and appears at intervals. The Mussulmans 
have confused him with El Khoudr, and relate many wonder- 
ful stories of him. He is unquestionably the origin of the 

1 Tabari, i. c 84. 



372 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [: 

Wandering Jew. His reappearances are mentioned in the 
Talmud, and in later Jewish legends, as, for instance, in a 
story told by Abraham Tendlau. 1 A poor Jew and his wife 
were reduced to great necessity ; the man had not clothes in 
which to go forth and ask for work. Then his wife borrowed 
for him clothes, and he entered the street seeking work. He 
met a venerable man, who bade him use him as a slave. The 
Jew engaged to build a palace for a prince with the assistance 
of his slave, for ten thousand thalers. The mysterious stran- 
ger labored hard and angel? assisted him, so that the mansion 
was completed with astonishing rapidity. When the Jew had 
received the money, the old man announced that he was Eli- 
jah, who had come to assist him, and vanished. 

After the Arabs had captured the city of Elvan, Fadhilah, 
at the head of three hundred horsemen, pitched his tents, late 
in the evening, between two mountains. Fadhilah having be- 
gun his evening prayer with a loud voice, heard the words 
" Allah akbar ! " (God is great ! ) repeated distinctly, and each 
word of his prayer was followed in a similar manner. Fadhi- 
lah, not believing this to be an echo, was much astonished, 
and cried out, " O thou ! whether thou art of the angel ranks, 
or whether thou art of some other order of spirits, it is well, 
the power of God be with thee ; but if thou art a man, then let 
mine eyes light upon thee, that I may rejoice in thy presence 
and society." 

Scarcely had he spoken these words, before an aged man 
with bald head stood before him, holding a staff in his hand, 
and much resembling a dervish in appearance. After having 
courteously saluted him, Fadhilah asked the old man who he 
was. Thereupon the stranger answered, "Bassi Hadut Issa, 
I am here by command of the Lord Jesus, who has left me in 
this world, that I may live therein until He comes a second 
time to earth. I wait for the Lord, who is the Fountain of 
Happiness, and in obedience to his command I dwell beyond 
the mountain." 

When Fadhilah heard these words, he asked when the 
Lord Jesus would appear ; and the old man replied that his 
appearing would be at the end of the world. 

But this only increased Fadhilah's curiosity, so that he in- 
quired the signs of the approach of the end of all things ;, 

1 Das Buch der Sagen und Legenden judischer Yorzeit, p. 45 ; Stutt- 
gardt, 1845. 



XL.] ISAIAH. 373 

whereupon Zerib bar Elia gave him an account of the general 
social and moral dissolution which would be the climax of 
this world's history. 1 

"In the second year of Hezekiah," says the Rabbinic 
Sether Olam Rabba (c. 17), "Elijah disappeared, and he will 
not appear again till the Messiah come ; then he will show 
himself once more ; and he will again disappear till Gog and 
Magog show themselves. And all this time he writes the 
events and transactions that happen in each century , . . . Let- 
ters from Elijah were brought to King Joram seven years after 
Elijah had disappeared." 

A prophecy ascribed to Elijah is preserved in the Gemara: 2 
" The world will last six thousand years ; it will lie desert for 
two thousand years ; the Messiah will reign two thousand 
years ; but, because of our iniquities which have super abounded,, 
the years of the Messiah have passed away." 



XL. 
ISAIAH. 

The Book of the Ascension of Isaiah has reached us only in 
an Ethiopic version, which was published along with a transla- 
tion by Archbishop Laurence, Oxford, 1819. Gieseler trans- 
lated the book, and gave learned prolegomena, and notes, 
Gottingen, 1837 ; and Gfrorer has included it in his " Prophetae 
Pseudepigraphi," Stuttgardt, 1840, pp. 1-55, with the Latin 
translation. It must have existed in Greek and Latin, for frag- 
ments of the Latin apocryphal book remain, and have been 
published by Cardinal Mai, in " Scriptorum Veterum Nova 
Collectio;" Romae, 1824, t ill. ii. 238 et seq.: and it is very 
evident from these that they are versions of a Greek original, 
and not of the Ethiopic. 

Whilst Isaiah was speaking to the king Hezekiah, he sud- 
denly stopped, and his soul was borne away by an angel. He 
traversed the firmament, where he saw the strife of the angels 
and demons, waged between the earth and the moon. He en- 
tered the six heavens and admired their glory ; then he pene- 
trated into the seventh heaven, where he saw the Holy Trinity, 

1 Herbelot, Bibl. Orient., s. v. Zerib, iii. p. 607. 
* Gemara, Avoda Sara, c. i. fol. 65. 



374 0LD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xl. 

and there the events of futurity were revealed to him. When 
he returned to himself, Isaiah related to Hezekiah all that he 
had seen and heard, except what concerned his son Manasseh. 

This is the prophecy of Isaiah concerning Antichrist : "And 
when that time had passed, Berial, the great angel, the prince 
of this world, Berial will descend from his place in the form 
of a man ; an impious king, the murderer of his mother, a king 
of this world. 

" And he will pluck up from amongst the twelve apostles 
the plant that they had planted, and it will fall into his hands. 

" And all the powers of the world will do the will of the 
angel Berial, the impious king. 

" At his w r ord, the sun will shine in the darkness of the 
night, and the moon will appear at the eleventh hour. 

" He will do all his pleasures ; he will ill-treat the Well- 
Beloved, and will say to him, Lo ! I am God, and before me 
there is none other. 

" And all the world will believe in him. 

" And sacrifice will be offered to him, and a worship of 
adoration, saying, He alone is God, and there is none other. 

" Then the greater number of those gathered together to 
receive the Well-Beloved will turn aside to Berial ; 

" Who by his power will work miracles in the cities and in 
the country ; 

" And everywhere shall a table be spread for him. 

" His domination shall be for three years seven months and 
twenty-seven days." 1 

Only when Hezekiah was at the point of death, did Isaiah 
reveal to him what and how great would be the iniquities of 
his son. Then the king would have slain Manasseh : " I had 
rather," said he, " die without posterity, than leave behind me 
a son who should persecute the saints." 

When the prophet saw that Hezekiah loved God more than 
his own son, he was glad, and he restrained the king, and said, 
" It is the will of God that he should live." 

Manasseh reigned in the room of his father, and was a cruel 
tyrant. He worshipped idols, and sought to make Isaiah par- 
take in his idolatry. And when he could not succeed, he 
sawed him asunder with a saw of wood. 

" And whilst Isaiah was being cut asunder, Melekira stood 

1 Anabasticon, iv. 2-12. 



XL.J ISAIAH. 375; 

up and accused him, and all the lying prophets were present, 
and they showed great joy, and they mocked him. 

" And Belial said to Isaiah ; ' Confess that all thou hast 
said is false, and that the ways of Manasseh are good and just. 

" i Confess that the ways of Melekira, and of those that 
are with him, are good.' 

" He spake thus to him, as the saw entered into his flesh. 

" But Isaiah was in an ecstasy, and his eyes were open, 
and he looked upon the spectators of his passion. 

" Then said Melekira to Isaiah : ' Confess what I shall say, 
and I will change the heart of those who persecute thee, and 
I will make Manasseh, and the heads of Judah, and his people,, 
and all Jerusalem worship thee.' 

" Then Isaiah answered and said : ' Cursed art thou in all 
that thou sayest, and in all thy power, and in all thy disciples t 

" ' Thou canst do nothing against me ; all thou canst do is 
to take from me this miserable life/ 

" Then they seized the prophet, and they sawed him with* 
a saw of wood, Isaiah, son of Amos. 

u And Manasseh and Melekira, and the lying prophets, and 
the princes of Israel, and all the people, beheld his execution. 

" Now before that the execution was accomplished, he said 
to the prophets who had followed him : ' Fly to Tyre and 
Sidon, for the Lord hath given the cup to me alone.* 

" And whilst the saw cut into his flesh, Isaiah uttered na 
complaint and shed no tears ; but he ceased not to commune 
with the Holy Spirit till the saw had cloven him to the middle 
of his body." 1 

In the Mishna 3 it is related that the Rabbi Simeon Ben 
Azai found in Jerusalem (2d cent.) a genealogy, wherein it 
was written that Manasseh killed Isaiah. Manasseh said to 
Isaiah, " Moses, thy master, said, There shall no man see God 
and live. 3 But thou hast said, I saw the Lord seated upon 
His throne. 4 Moses said, What other nation is there so greats 
that hath God so nigh unto them ? 5 But thou hast said, Seek 
ye the Lord while He may be found." 6 

Isaiah thought, " If I excuse myself, I shall only increase 
his guilt and not save myself ; " so he answered not a word, 
but pronounced the Incommunicable Name, and a cedar-tree 

1 Anabasticon, v. 1-14. * Tract. Jebammoth, c. 4. 

8 Exod. xxxiii. 20. 4 Isai. vi. 1. * Deut. iv. 7^ 

1 Isai. Iv. 6. 



37 6 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xll 

opened, and he disappeared within it. Then Manasseh or- 
dered, and they took the cedar, and sawed it into lengthways ; 
and when the saw reached his mouth, he died. 



XLL 
JEREMIAH. 

The work entitled De Vitis Prophetarum, falsely attributed 
to S. Epiphanius, contains some apocryphal details concerning 
Jeremiah. It is said that he was stoned at Taphens in Egypt, 
in a place where Pharaoh formerly lived. He was held in 
great honor by the Egyptians, because of the service he had 
rendered them in taming the serpents and crocodiles. 

The faithful who take a little dust from the spot where he 
died, are able to employ it as a rei^wj against the bites of 
serpents, and to drive away crocodiles. 

The prophet announced to the priests and wise men of 
Egypt that when a virgin, who had borne a son, should set her 
foot on Egyptian soil, all the idols should fall. 

Before the destruction of Jerusalem, he hid the ark of the 
covenant in a rock, which opened for the purpose, and closed 
upon it. Then said he to the princes of the people and to 
the elders, " The Lord has gone up from Sinai, but He will 
come again with His sacred power. And this shall be the 
token of His coming, — all nations shall bow before the Wood." 

Then the prophet continued, " None of the priests and 
prophets shall open the ark, except Moses, the elect of God ; 
and Aaron shall alone unfold the tables it contains. At the 
Resurrection, the ark shall arise out of the rock first of all, 
and it shall be placed upon Mount Zion. Then all the saints 
will go there and await the Lord, and they will put the enemy 
to flight who seeks their destruction." 

Having said these words, he traced with his finger the 
name of God upon the rock, and the name remained graven 
there as if cut with iron. Then a cloud descended upon the 
rock and hid it, and no man has seen it since. It is in the 
desert, amongst the mountains, where are the tombs of Moses 
and Aaron. At night a cloud of fire shines above the spot. 






XLm.1 EZEKIEL. 377 

XLIL 
EZEKIEL. 

Ezekiel, whom the Arabs call Kazquil, was the son of an 
aged couple, who had no children. They prayed to God, and 
He gave them a son. 

Ezekiel was a prophet, and he exhorted the men of Jerusa- 
lem to war, but they would not go forth to battle. Then God 
sent a pestilence, and there died of them every day very many. 
So, fearing death, a million fled from the city, hoping to es- 
cape the pestilence, but the wrath of God overtook them, and 
they fell dead. 

Then those who survived in the city went forth to bury them, 
but they were too numerous ; therefore they built a wall round 
the corpses, to protect them from the beasts of the field \ and 
thus they lay exposed to the heat and cold for many years, till 
the flesh had rotted off their bones. 

Once the prophet Ezekiel came that way, and he saw this 
great multitude of dead and dry bones. He prayed, and God 
restored them to life again, and they stood upon their feet a 
great army, and entered into the city, and lived out the rest of 
their days. It is said that among the Jews there are, to this 
day, descendants of those who were resuscitated, and they may 
be recognized by the corpse-like odor they exhale. 1 

The Jews relate that a celebrated Rabbi found the greatest 
difficulty in comprehending the book of Ezekiel ; therefore his 
disciples prepared for him three hundred tuns of oil to feed 
his lamp whilst he studied at night the visions of the prophet* 



XLm. 

EZRA. 

Cyrus, in the year 537 before Christ, put an end to the cap- 
tivity of the Jews in Babylon, as had been foretold by Daniel ; 
and not only did he permit the Jews to return to Jerusalem, 
but he furnished them with the means of rebuilding their city 

1 Tabari, i. c. 83. * Bartolocci, i. p. 848. 



378 OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. [xliii. 

and temple. The Oriental writers, to explain the motive of 
Cyrus, say that his mother was a Jewess, and that he himself 
was married to the Jewess Maschat, sister of Zerubabbel, a 
granddaughter of the king Jehoiakim. 

In 523 before Christ, Cambyses, having reigned a brief 
•time, was succeeded by Smerdis, the Magian, who is called, in 
the Scriptures, Artaxerxes. He, being ill-disposed towards the 
Jews, withdrew from them the gifts made by Cyrus, and ar- 
rested their work. Smerdis, however, reigned only two years, 
and was succeeded by Darius Hystaspes, who continued the 
work of Cyrus, by the hands of Ezra or Esdras, one of the in- 
struments used by God to restore His people. 

Ezra was the son of Seraiah, of the lineage of Aaron. 

In the Koran 1 it is said that Ezra, passing through a vil- 
lage near Jerusalem, whose houses were ruined, exclaimed, 
" Can God restore these waste places, and revive the inhab- 
itants ? " 

Then God made him die ; and he remained dead for one 
hundred years. At the end of that time God revived him, 
and he saw the village rebuilt and full of busy people. 

The commentators on the Koran say that Ezra (Ozair), 
when young, had been taken away captive by Nebuchadnezzar, 
but that he was delivered miraculously from prison, and re- 
turned to Jerusalem, which he found in ruins. He halted at a 
village, near the city, named Sair-Abad. Its houses were fall- 
en and without inhabitants, but the fig-tree and vines remained 
in the gardens. Ezra collected the fruit, and made himself a 
little cell out of the fallen stones. And he kept near him the 
ass on which he had ridden. 

The holy man, on contemplating from his hermitage the 
ruins of the holy city and the temple, wept birterly before 
the Lord, and said often with a tone rather of lament 
than doubt, " How can the walls of Jerusalem ever be set up 
again ? " 

Then God bade him die, and hid him from the eyes of men, 
in his cell, with all that he had about him, his fruit, his mat, 
and his ass. At the close of a century God revived him, and 
he found all as when he had died ; the ass standing, and the 
fruit unwithered. Then Ezra saw the works that had been 
executed in Jerusalem, how the walls were being set up, and 

1 Sura, ii. 



xliii. | EZRA. 279 

the breaches repaired, and he said, " God is Almighty ; He 
can do whatsoever pleaseth him ! " 

After his resurrection, he went into the holy city, and spent 
night and day in explaining to the people the Law, as he re- 
membered it. But it had been forgotten by the Jews, and 
therefore they disregarded his instruction. 

The Iman Thalebi says, that the Jews, to test the mission 
of Ezra, placed five pens in his hand, and with each he wrote 
at the same moment with like facility as if he held only one ; 
and he wrote all the Books of the Sacred Canon, as he drew 
them from his memory, without the assistance of a book. 

The Jews, however, said amongst themselves, " Hovr can 
we be sure that what Ezra has written is the true sacred text, 
since there is none amongst us who can bear witness ? " 

Then one of them said, " I have heard say that my grand- 
father preserved a copy of the sacred books, and that they 
were hidden by him in a hollow rock, which he marked so 
that it might be recognized again." 

They therefore sought the place which had been marked, 
and there they found a volume containing the Scriptures, which 
having been compared with what Ezra had written, it was 
found that the agreement was exact. Then the people, aston- 
ished at the miracle, cried out that Ezra was a god. 1 

At the time of carrying away into Babylon, the sacred fire 
had been cast into a well in the temple court. Ezra, having 
drawn some of the dirt out of the well, placed on it the wood 
of the sacrifice ; then the flame, which for a hundred and for- 
ty years had been extinguished, burst forth again out of the 
mire. When Ezra saw this wonder, he thrice drank of the 
dust out of the well ; and thus he imbibed the prophetic spir- 
it, and the power of recomposing from memory the lost sacred 
books. 2 

1 Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientate, iiL p. 89. * Abulfaraj, p. 57, 



3 8o OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. \xliy. 



XLIV. 
ZECHARIAH. 

Sozomen 1 relates that the prophet Zechariah appeared to 
Colomeras, a farmer of the village of Chupher, in Palestine, 
and revealed to him his tomb ; and on excavations having 
been made on the spot, an ancient Hebrew book was discov- 
ered, which, however, was not regarded as canonical. Nice- 
phoras repeats the story after Sozomen. 2 

1 Hist. Eccles. lib. ix. cap. ult. * Ibid., lib. xiv. c. 8. 



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